Summer Projects

So it's been a little while since I last posted anything, sorry. Life has been so crazy busy that I can barely keep my feet on the ground for more then a couples weeks, literally! But what fun would life be if you just sat around the house all the time and didn't get out and travel and see the world and visit your friends and family?!? 

So with our crazy busy lives I was constantly buying those paper desk calendars. I love writing everything down and being able to see in advance what is going on. As each month went by and I continued to pull these pieces of papers off of our calendar, I realized that I don't like wasting the paper...so what can you do to fix that and be as GREEN as possible? Why you can devote and entire wall to a dry erase calendar!!! Yes I said ENTIRE WALL...go big or go home right?!!?

So my project begins with selecting a wall in my office :) So exciting! Next step is picking up the supplies needed.

 The supplies needed for an entire wall are, 2 dry wall paint kits, 1 can of white primer paint (if your walls are any color but white), wall filler (so your calendar isn't bumpy), small foam roller, paint tray (not pictured), wall spatula, painters tape, 1/2 inch trim (not pictures), fine sand paper, roller, trim cocking, a saw, a trim cutter and black paint for trim (not pictured and the color doesn't really matter, in my case the black looked best with the white board and pink walls).

We ended up "eye balling" the shape we wanted and just measured it and marked the wall with a pencil. We (when I say we, I mean my husband), lol, filled in the wall with the wall filler. 

Once the wall filler had dried we sanded it down so that there were no rough spots, then we painted over it with the white primer. This made sure the you couldn't see any pink through the filler and so the white board paint would apply better to the wall. 

Once we had followed our pencil markings and painted on the primer, we re-measured the area and taped off the area that we wanted as our calendar. We then painted over the primer with the white board paint. I must say that if you haven't used this before, DO IT!!! SO COOL!!! 

Line drawing time!!! I would have to say that this was the hardest part. Having one of us hold the yard stick, not moving AT ALL, while the other drew the lines. We measured it all out so that each day would be the same size. 

Once the lines were drawn we cut the trim and painted it. Once the trim was dry we secured it to the wall. We then took the clear cocking and filled in the edges to make a clean and secure trim outline around the calendar. As soon as that was done I went through and filled in the calendar. 


What a crazy project! So fun and I LOVE IT!!! I love seeing a year in advance :) You could use this project for many other things. I just like the calendar aspect of it! This project can be done in one week if you are on top of things and really push for it. It is a great GREEN option!!! Much like one of our previous projects, the chalk board in my son's room! 


Hope you are all having a great summer and I encourage you to try one of my projects. Yes, yes, I know this isn't cloth diaper related, but honestly, who's lives consist of cloth diapers and cloth diapers only? And as long as my projects are a GREEN alternative, why not!!!???!!! Happy reading!

~Rachelle

Sweet Cheeks Review from Mummy Knows Reviews

This time I'm reviewing a sample of Butt Balm from Morgan Botanicals.

Sample with list of  all natural ingredients

The butt balm is called "Sweet Cheeks Salve" and the all- natural ingredients include:
Olive oil
Premium Beeswax
Vitamin E
Calendula Flowers
Chamomile Flowers
Comfrey Leaf and Root
Elder Flower
Marshmallow Leaf and Root
Lavender Blossoms
Rose Petals
Signature Essential Oil.

The balm is a golden yellow color and is perfect for soothing  diaper rash. It is safe to use with cloth diapers too. It won't leave a nasty residue on your diapers.  It helps to keep the skin's surface dry, nourished, and fight bacteria. This balm can also be used to soothe dry, chapped winter skin. 

Thankfully my son doesn't get many diaper rashes. So I haven't had to use this sample much. He has had a few minor irritations, and red bumps on his bottom though. I've applied this balm to it and it has helped to clear those up.

What I love:
1. Cloth Diaper Friendly
2. That you only need to use a little bit
3. That it smells nice
4. That it doesn't feel thick, creamy, and yucky gross when putting it on.
5. That the ingredients are all natural against my babies skin.

I honestly can't think of anything I'd improve with the Sweet Cheeks Salve.

Summer Fun In The Sun!!!

With summer right around the corner and a blog review on the AppleCheeks Swim Diaper coming up soon (with a giveaway to follow) I thought I would post my views on swimming with a cloth swim diaper!

Last weekend I was able to get away from the diaper service long enough to take my son down to Huntington Beach here in California. It was an amazingly beautiful day and everything was perfect! 

As moms and dads get ready for summer I often get asked "what is your favorite swim diaper?" My family LOVES AppleCheeks! I can't imagine using anything but an AppleCheeks Swim Diaper every time we are around water, whether my son is taking swim lessons, we are at the beach or at a water park. This swim diaper is light and not bulky. You simply put the swim diaper on as is and then you have the option to put a regular bathing suit over it or just let your little one run around with just the swim diaper on. 

I have the size 2 swim diaper on my 2 year old (almost 3) who weighs 32lbs. For a long time he enjoyed just wearing the swim diaper without any swim trunks on over it, which I absolutely LOVED because of all the attention we got from it! People always asking what it was and the brand and it was the perfect way to start the cloth conversation with strangers. Now that he is a little older and almost done with the swim diaper in general (because of potty training) I find that he wants his swim trunks on over the swim diaper. Probably because he sees daddy with his on too and wants to be just like him!! 

Most people think that the disposable swim diapers catch everything, pee and poo. Oh boy are they wrong!!! All those diapers are designed to do is catch the poo. The rest gets out and into whatever water you are in. So if a disposable swim diaper doesn't contain everything (meaning pee, just catches poo), has chemicals in it, smells funny and is far from a soft material on your baby's bottom, WHY USE THEM!??!!??!!??!! AppleCheeks has come out with this super cute, affordable, environmentally friendly, soft on baby's bottom, chemical free and reusable alternative to a one time use, disposable swim diaper. 

As you can see in most off the pictures, it doesn't even look like he has anything on under the swim trunks. And one of the best parts about using the swim diaper and not a disposable (besides all of the other reasons I already listen, lol) is that when we are ready to get back in the car all I have to do is strip him down and EVERYTHING can go into our wet bag and it all gets cleaned at the same time when I get home! How easy is that!!!

I hope you will try an AppleCheeks Swim Diaper on your little one(s), I know you will LOVE it!!! Have a safe and fun summer with your little one(s)!!!! 

~Rachelle

Kawaii Heavy Wetter Review

A few months ago I was contacted by two AMAZING cloth diapering mommas who do blog reviews and giveaways. I was so excited to get to know Rebecca and Cassie. Recently they have both been reviewing some of our boutique products and posting their reviews on their blogs, followed by a giveaway. I have been so happy with their wonderful reviews that I figured I would start to post their reviews on my blog for all of you to see!!!

This review was for the Kawaii Heavy Wetter Diaper. This diaper is one of my favorite diapers out of all of the diapers in my stash. It works great for my little boy who truly is a "heavy wetter". I was first introduced to this diaper from a girl friend who also has a heavy wetter little boy! She was so excited to tell me about this diaper and to have me try it. I knew after the first night of using the diaper, it was a wonderful product not only for my son but a must have for our boutique. This is one of our most popular diaper with in our boutique and I have NEVER gotten any negative feedback on it. You must try this diaper!!!

Below I have listed Cassie and Rebecca's blog reviews!

 

Kawaii Heavy Wetter Review By Cassie

 Many people who use cloth diapers struggle with an overnight solution that works. I thought we were in the clear as we never had a problem using our everyday pocket diapers as our night time diaper….then we started having leaks. I thought perhaps my diapers needed to be stripped and since we had been using them for 15 months, I went ahead and stripped them. Problem…not solved. I then had to accept my little girl wasn’t so little anymore and since she was sleeping longer at night, her diaper was also getting fuller. I knew from other reviews that I wanted to try the Goodnight Heavy Wetter diaper by Kawaii Baby Diapers and was happy to find out that Precious Bottoms Diaper Service and Baby Boutique carried this product.

The Goodnight Heavy Wetter is a one size diaper that fits babies from 8-36 lbs. It comes with 2 large microfiber inserts and the outer layer is made from TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane). So between the absorbent inserts and the waterproof outer layer, this diaper is pretty much leak proof. The interior lining is made of a micro fleece and is super soft. I love the simplicity of the dotty print and it is also very gender neutral, which is great in case I ever have a boy. They also come in animal and cow prints.

My oldest daughter, now 19 months, has been wearing these for her night time diaper for several months now. When it is stuffed with both inserts, you can see it is pretty fluffy, but I’m not worried about it being bulky when she is just wearing it with her jammies. The inserts are nice and wide, which allows for easy stuffing. The elastic around the legs doesn’t seem very tight fitting, but I haven’t had any leaks. I suppose it is good that it isn’t too tight since she is in this diaper all night. The snaps in general have a decent lay out which includes a hip snap to eliminate the annoying wing drop you get on some diapers. I find the snaps to be harder to snap than other types, but my hubby doesn’t seem to be phased by them. On the plus side, my daughter definitely can’t get this diaper off during the night.

Although I mainly use these diapers for my oldest, I did try them on our new baby. An important thing to consider if you plan to use one-size diapers for a newborn is can it truly get small enough. I typically like a hook and loop closure, but if you are using snaps like this diaper does, cross-over snaps are a must. As you can see in the photo below, I can still get a great fit on my 9-10 lbs 1 month old with the help of the cross-over snaps.

Even with only using one insert, the diaper does seem to be a bit bulky for a newborn but that is really typical of one-size diapers. As with my oldest daughter, the elastic around the leg didn’t seem very tight, but once again, I didn’t have any leaks even with newborn poo.

The real perk of the Kawaii Baby Diapers is the price. Kawaii Baby Diapers doesn’t have its own retail shop, but operates solely online. This allows them to save money and pass the savings on to their customers. They also don’t spend money on expensive advertising, but rely on word of mouth. I have to admit, I am one of those people that think you “get what you paid for” so I was a bit wary of a cheaper priced diaper, but this affordable, high quality diaper has quickly become our go-to night time diaper.

Kawaii Heavy Wetter Review By Rebecca

A little while back I was struggling with the fact that each morning my little girl was waking up with bed, sheets and clothes soaking wet. I debated on changing her in the middle of the night or even dare I say it? Try disposables at night. *sigh* I asked mamas from all around and I kept hearing about Kawaii Diapers. Luckily, Rachelle the amazing mommy who owns Precious Bottoms Diaper Service and Baby Boutique sells tons of Kawaii and loves them as much as a lot of mommies do. I was stoked to receive mine in the mail, this adorable diaper would hopefully be the fix. I have to say, I really like this diaper. I am not just talking about how cute it is, but the actual fit is perfect for my little girl. No gaping, no red marks around her chubby legs or belly, no sagging and even better, NO LEAKS! The snaps on this diaper are very sturdy and are perfectly positioned.

Since I just have one Kawaii Heavy Wetter in my stash right now, I always make sure it is clean for every other night. I can honestly say that I trust this diaper on road trips, running errands and throughout the night with out having to worry about how long it has been since her last change. Unless my daughter is poopy, I don't rush to change her diaper because I know that she is comfortable and her skin is dry.

Traveling with Cloth!!

Being a cloth diapering mama and an owner of a cloth diaper service, I get asked so many really good questions about natural parenting techniques, cloth diapering and many other baby related topics. One of the most frequent question that gets asked is: "How do we travel with cloth diapers?"

My answer is ALWAYS the same: "It's easy, take your wet bag and your clean diapers with you and while you change the baby simply place the dirty diapers in your wet bag and at the end of your vacation bring them home with you. The only thing you are changing in your day to day life while cloth diapering is the fact that you are putting the used diapers in your wet bag and not in the trash can. If you are using our service diapers while you are on vacation just set them out for pick up on the next delivery day after you get home. If you are using your own diapers, I recommend that the first thing you do when you walk in the front door is put the diapers in the washing machine and start your normal cloth diaper wash routine. Simple!!!"

In my family we travel A LOT...at any given time all three of us or just one of us is gone traveling for up to 2 weeks at a time on a family vacation or for work. We always try to travel together whenever possible, which means no matter where we are going I have to take our cloth diapers, wipes, and our wet bag. I have flown with our diapers, dirty and clean, taken week long driving trips in southern California and been gone for work for up to a week and a half, all while travel with my son and his diapers. It is possible to go ANYWHERE at ANYTIME with your cloth diapers. I will admit that traveling with service diapers (you are using a diaper service) is easier just because you are able to just set the diapers out for pick up after you return and not even have to worry about cleaning them. Personally it doesn't bother me to wash my son's diapers after a trip as long as I remember to put them in the washer as soon as I get home.

During on of our recent trips to San Diego I took some pictures of how I travel with our diapers.

For a 2 and a half day trip I took 13 diapers, 1 medium Planet Wise wet bag and a Happy Tushies wet bag. We only live about 3 and a half hours from San Diego so I put my son in one of the diapers right before leaving and changed him once we got to our hotel. I have been blessed with a child that falls asleep very quickly in the car and sleeps until I open the door at our final destination. I then changed him once more before bed (we got to our hotel at 6pm and after settling in and getting dinner we were all ready for bed around 10-10:30pm). So by the next morning we were down to 11 diapers. He got a diaper change first thing that morning when he woke up at 9am. My son will sleep through a wet diaper but I usually make sure that we cut off liquids 2 hours before bed time so that when he sleeps for his normal 8-11 hours at night, he isn't sleeping in a soaking wet diaper. With the Kawaii, Thirsties, Oh Katy and AppleCheeks diapers that I brought with us, I can usually get away with changing him every 4 hours as long as he has not gone number 2! If he is pushing the liquids like crazy I usually change him every 2-3 hours. So he got a diaper change at 12pm, 2pm, 6pm and again at 10pm before bed. When we travel, I always have a hard time sticking to a "normal" bed time...lol...oh well, we are on vacation right!??! So by the next morning we were down to 6 diapers. We went out and about that day and left in the afternoon to come home. When we had left town we were down to 2 diapers left. We usually stop in Palmdale on our way home, especially on a Sunday when we have to do deliveries and grocery shopping. So when we got to Palmdale he got a diaper change. When we got back in the car to go home (45 minutes away) he got his last diaper change.

This is a picture of all of the diapers in the Happy Tushies wet bag, with the Planet Wise wet bag on top. 

 

I always hang the wet bag on the hook that is on the INSIDE of the bathroom door. The reason I do this is so that at night I can turn the fan on in the bathroom and continue to let the air circulate inside the bag so that the diapers don't stink on our drive home. Anytime we are in a hotel room I do this. I always tell our diaper service customers not to leave their wet bag in a bathroom or a laundry room, where there can be a lot of moisture, but when I do this, I only close the door at night and never while the shower of bath tub is in use.

Not only is it easy to cloth diaper, it is easy to travel with cloth diapers! I wouldn't have it any other way! Not only am I doing the best diapering option for my child, but I am saving money, helping to save our environment, limiting my carbon footprint and helping to spread my love for cloth diapers! I encourage everyone to at least try cloth diapers, and if you are brave enough, TRAVEL WITH CLOTH DIAPERS!!! Hopefully soon I will be able to post some more tricks and tips on traveling with cloth! Until then, happy travels with your cloth and I am always here for any advice or questions you might have!!! 

~Rachelle