Haiti New Mom Bundles Project

For a while now we have been considering the start of a cloth diaper charity in Maine much like Miracle Diapers. One of the mamas I know puts together New Mom Bundles for mothers in Haiti. Please consider donating to this wonderful cause. I am pasting info on her project below.

“My next project for Haiti will be on Saturday, July 26. I'm having a shower to collect the items to make bundles for new moms. These will go to three clinics and a women's program in Haiti.
Items do not have to be new. The bundles consist of a receiving blanket, a t-shirt/onesie, three cloth diapers, a pair of vinyl pants and set of diaper pins.

This morning as I put together my first New Mom Bundle for Haiti, which will be my sample for showers and such, I did some math. Here is what I came up with:

A cloth diaper from WalMart costs $1

A days wages in Haiti cost $1

If you figure a days wages in the US based on an 8 hour work day at $7/hr. (American Poverty) that translates to $56.

Would you be able to afford diapers if you had to pay $56 a piece for them?4 diaper pins or 1 pair of vinyl pants cost about the same as one cloth diaper.

How about a simple three snap front t-shirt from Gerber?

Cost approximately $2.85

3 days wages in Haiti $3

Would you be able to spend three days wages ($168) for a single t-shirt?

A home made flannel receiving blanket $5

A weeks wages in Haiti $5

Would you be able to spend a weeks wages ($280) on a single flannel receiving blanket?

The total New Mom Bundle including the time to put them together and the cost of shipping them to Haiti will cost $15 and it may well be the only gift the mom receives to celebrate the arrival of her new baby.

3 weeks wages in Haiti $15

Would you spend 3 weeks wages ($840) on a single baby shower gift? How about $15? It made me realized how blessed I am as a "struggling" and "impoverished" single mother by American standards.”

If you can help or would like more information, please contact me.
Warmly,
Aimee Grimmel
http://www.boobearbuns.com/

Tiny Tush Now Available at Boo Bear Buns!

I am excited to announce that Tiny Tush products are now available at Boo Bear Buns! Between the inexpensive Chinese prefolds, the organic Trim contoured diapers, the organic Trim fitted diapers, the One Size Elite Pocket Diapers, the nylon pull up covers, organic wool soakers and the training pants, you are sure to find whatever diapering product you need at Boo Bear Buns! Cost saving packages are available, as well as their Perfect Wipes, disposable diaper liners, and diaper pail liners.

New Products at Boo Bear Buns

At Boo Bear Buns, you can now purchase your big belly clothes at the same place you get all your baby accessories. I spent a couple days last week adding new products to my website. In addition to cloth diapers, baby carriers, natural laundry detergent, safer bath & body products and the many other items available, you can now get gorgeous maternity clothes! Also new, and already very popular, are 80 load Itsa Greener Clean natural laundry detergents. And check out the new visor beanies. So cute!

Make sure you check out all the new items, as there's only 1 or 2 of some and you don't want to miss out! Also look for hemp/organic cotton AIO one-size diapers in Spring 2008!

A few ways to help the environment

1. Use cloth diapers! Did you know that every kid in disposables add about 2 tons of diapers to landfills? These diapers will take an estimated 200-500 years to break down. Did you know that it takes 2/3 cup of petroleum to make 1 disposable diaper? These are just a few of the advantages of cloth! An added bonus: laundering at home will save you $2000+ per child over disposables and utilizing a diaper service will still save you hundreds over disposables!
2. Buy a few reusable shopping bags. If you can sew, make your own from an old sheet or pillow case! Over 1 million plastic shopping bags are used each minute! Don't add to the waste!
3. RECYCLE!!! Recycle and reuse whatever you can! One thing I do is print all my receipts double sided. Any old paperwork is used for notes and lists. All other paper items are recycled or used to start my wood furnace. Reuse those cloth diapers on future babies or as cleaning rags, or donate to a needy family.

SaS Fabric Co-op Yahoo Group

I just created a yahoo group for leftover fabric & notions from sling and diaper making. I will also offer chances to go in on wholesale orders with me, as well as pre-sales from my site. There is a database for hemp / certified organic cotton fleece that will be open for at least a couple more weeks.

The address is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SaS_Fabric_Coop . Feel free to join and invite others!

Cutest Diaper Package Ever!

Here's 1/2 a package of flannel front Boo Bear Buns diapers that were sent out recently. These are one size fitted diapers with cotton flannel outers and 3 thirsty layers of hemp/organic cotton fleece. I love the prints!

Probably taking a couple weeks off

The lead paint is finally being removed from the house (well, most of it covered, but that's better than nothing I guess) so we are leaving for 2 weeks tomorrow. During that time, I will have *gasp* a dial up connection. After having dsl for years, I don't have the patience for dial up, so after emails, orders and the usual work related stuff, I don't expect to get to the blog. It's ok though, I have a lot of sewing to do. 36 diapers, 18 inserts, 36 wipes, a wrap sling, and numerous pouch slings. Plus orders that come in the meantime. Yeah, that'll keep me busy :)
Until then, here are a couple of my recent creations:

Duck Dots Boo Bear Buns Fitted Diaper
Clouds Boo Bear Buns Contoured Diaper

And my favorite Fieldstone pics:

100th Item Added! Cloth Diapering Handbook

This morning I added the 100th item to www.slingsandsacks.com! Just released; The Cloth Diapering Handbook replaces The Do It Yourself Cloth Diapering Handbook.

With over 12 styles of cloth diapers… 7 styles of covers… Over 15 ways to fold a diaper… Different ways to wash, store dirty and clean, use and care for your cloth diapers, learning to troubleshoot and problem solve, decipher conflicting advice and information from a multitude of websites… It's no wonder some people get overwhelmed with cloth diapering before they begin. It doesn't have to be this way. Thankfully, someone else has already done the research, experiments, learning and compiling of all this great information (while sharing her own experiences so you can learn from her mistakes!) into a single resource. With this book, you can read any time, anywhere and even take to the nursery with you to help you on your journey. All the information you need to get started is at your fingertips in the most comprehensive guide devoted to cloth diapering today. Quick Facts: * 8.5 x 11in., 126 pages printed front and back * Full color images * Step by step, detailed instructions and photo tutorials * Helpful forms and worksheets available in the back of the book * Professionally printed * Comb bound to allow for easy page turning and folding in half (spine is printed with title and other important info for easy finding on a bookshelf!) * New chapters on diaper making (including a long list of resources), potty learning and extensive expansion on existing chapters. * Includes the information listed below in "The Do It Yourself Cloth Diapering Handbook" section below plus much more. Also added was Diaper Maps, guide to folding diapers.

Organic Caboose Diaper Covers

I am so excited to finally have diaper covers on www.slingsandsacks.com! I searched high and low for a wahm who could supply me with covers, to no avail. Organic Caboose covers are high quality, organic!, and made in the USA so I hope that makes up for their lack of wahm-ness.

Organic Cotton Cover
Eco-Fleece Cover made from recycled soda bottles!
Organic Merino Wool Cover

Blessed Baby Boutique opens May 8th

The Wilton WAHM Co-op is now 11 local moms strong. As I mentioned previously, we are opening a baby boutique in Wilton, Maine. May 8th is the big day! Blessed Baby Boutique will offer handmade cloth diapers (including Boo Bear Buns products), baby carriers (including my slings), Itsa Greener Clean laundry detergent, diaper bags, herbal bath & body products, new & second hand clothing, wooden toys and so much more. Services offered will include breastfeeding support, doula services, belly casting, baby wearing & cloth diapering 101, photography, personal training and yoga.

A week long celebration of motherhood is planned for the first week. On Tuesday May 8^th, bring your kids from 11-noon for Barefoot Books Story Hour. Cloth diapering 101 will be held Wednesday May 9th from noon-1. Bring your kids back Thursday May 10^th from 11-noon for Likable Recyclables Child Crafts. Friday May 11^th offers baby wearing 101 from 11-noon. Saturday May 12^th celebrate the birth of Blessed Baby from 10-noon with shower games and prizes. Stay for an open discussion from 1-3 on Modern Motherhood. Located at 346 Main Street, Blessed Baby is open Tuesday-Thursday 10-5, Friday 9-6 and Saturday 9-5. For more info, go to www.blessedbaby.org, contact me, or call 207-645-4MOM.

I have a ton of pictures but Photoshop is not working and I don't know how to resize them without it so all you get here is one, however there are more on my flickr page. If you look closely, you can see that my sister cut my hair short last week. Aiden got his first haircut too!

Pictures that I have been meaning to post...

Aiden playing at my Mom's. Too bad I don't have the patience to upload the videos of him head-butting the horses. It was hilarious!

Lovely view in No View Greenhouse! Mom has lettuce and spinach growing in one house and seedlings in another.

Look at those greens! Yum!

I made Aiden a fleece cover. All but a couple wool soakers were bought and are ruined. Why all the bulk? That's NOT a Boo Bear Buns diaper underneath, but one of the few I bought back in the days before Slings and Sacks.These were my Scooby toe socks. I cut off the toes and made an tank top that was never going to fit again into cuffs. Very cool!
Rambling side note: In high school I had a glow in the dark Scooby comforter and an orange Scooby lunch box (my school was not vegetarian friendly so packed lunch was a necessity). This was while I was living own my own mind you. Ah, the days of driving my friends around listening to CKY and punk. Video taping those sweet kick-flips and ollies. Wearing questionable tee shirts to school.

Boys' day out, Mom's day in

I’m still here. Not sure when I will be off-line, if at all. I do plan to check in every few days regardless.

Jon took Aiden out without me for the first time today. (Thus far they have met up with Uncle Joe, sat on motorcycles at a Harley dealership and visited Pappy.) It’s amazing how quiet the house is without all of Aiden’s noises. I’ve had to keep music on just to feel comfortable. I miss the little bugger. With him being gone, I had to do something I hadn’t done for a while; pump. If you don’t want to read about it, feel free to scroll down, I won’t be offended :) I could not believe how much milk I produced. 4 ounces on one side. Man, when Aiden was little and I was pumping nearly every day (because I thought I needed to have milk in the freezer just in case), I was lucky to get 4 ounces total. By the way, Aiden wouldn’t drink out of a bottle, and all that milk got thrown out. (Next time I will be donating to a milk bank. I looked into it when Aiden was 10 months, but by the time all the testing was complete, I would have only been able to donate for 1 month. They only accept it for the first 12 months) I’m sure he will be happy to find milk in his cup at dinner. We’ll see if he downs it like it’s lemonade.

Without little fingers helping me, I was able to get a lot done, and I plan to continue as they won’t be home for another hour or so. I got 11 pair of nursing pads cut out, 3 sets of flannel backed wipes and 15 flannel front diapers. Yesterday I completed an additional 3 pair of nursing pads, 2 sets of flannel wipes and a pair of pants & tote bag for Aiden. Add to that a beautiful morsbag that I intend to keep for myself, and you can see that I have been busy!

Alright, back to work…

**CONTEST**

Between the new site and custom order slings, I have been busy. My mother has been a huge help. She has cut out so many diaper, wipe and nursing pad pieces that I am beginning to wonder whether I can complete them all! She has also helped with the formulation and testing of my new products. Very soon, natural laundry detergent and all-purpose cleaners will be available on www.slingsandsacks.com!

The story: I was quite excited when the family from Maine who makes natural laundry detergents and cleaners agreed to me selling their products on my site. I was equally as disappointed to find, through personal experience and that of other retailers, that they are unreliable. My passion for natural cleaning products drove me to create a detergent. (I in no way copied their detergent, or any other. The formulation is my own.) I am even more pleased to find that my products out clean the other natural products I had been using.

**The contest: Come up with an original name for my natural detergents and cleaning products. Send it to aimee@slingsandsacks.com with "name contest" in the subject line. If I choose the name you have come up with, I will send you a free 16 load bag of detergent. Contest closes whenever I decide :) **

Some more info that may help: Products are free of phosphates, biodegradable, safe for sensitive skin, suds free, and do not contain any sodium lauryl sulfate or dyes. All scents are created using essential oils.

The small print stuff: By sending me a name idea, you release all rights regarding that name, and any variance of it, to Slings and Sacks to use at our discretion. The free bag of detergent will be mailed in the cheapest way possible, therefore it may take a couple weeks or longer (depending on the postal service and where you live) before you receive the product.

I'll post some pictures soon (I know, I said that a week ago). I made Aiden a pair of pants from corduroy my mother used when I was a wee one. And the new flannel front diapers, nursing pads and wipes are un-fricken-believably cute. The old Euro-Pro machine I have been using is in need of a new foot control so I have switched to a Singer that we're guessing is from the 60's. Alright, back to adding bath & body products to the site, only after messing with threading a bobbin on the old singer. But first, off to my weekly visit/cleaning spree with my favorite person in the world besides Aiden, my Gram. Ever noticed how much easier it is to clean someone else's home?

Another diapering package done

Woo hoo! So what does a diapering package entail? This one is a second order for a wonderful customer containing 10 fitted diapers, 10 inserts and 12 wipes.
I:
Marked and cut 72 pieces
Sewed 10 soaker panels in
Sewed on 30 pieces of elastic
Washed (preshrunk) 12 pieces
Dried 12 pieces
Pinned 60 pieces together
Serged around 32 items
Trimmed excess thread on 32 items
Marked and poked 160 holes
Snapped on 160 snaps
Lint rolled and inspected 32 items
Tied on 3 ribbons and tags
Took pictures
Alright, that's enough!

Cloth Diapering Packages

Cloth diapering packages are now available in my Etsy store. I am also working on tote bags to add soon. I used to offer them and hadn't made any since I opened my store on Etsy. I forgot how much fun they are to make. The tote I made for my nieces birthday will be blogged about very soon...

My products are in stores!

With help from their very kind store owner, Laura, Country Moose Kids is now carrying my product lines! Check them out at www.countrymoosekids.com/MadeinMaine.html. Check out their other sections as well. You can't beat a family run company that has great customer service!


This ring sling is only available from them, it's one of a kind so don't miss out!


BTY - My wholesale pricing dilemma has been dealt with and I am moving on to more creative endeavors. Those promotional materials I have been saying need to get done are finally getting my attention. At least until my fabric arrives or I start another sling ;)

Have a wonderful day! We plan on playing in the snow later :)

Another order that's long gone.

Here is an order of a half dozen wipes and 2 BBB's contoured diapers as they were on their way out the door. But more importantly, look at how cute Aiden and I are!

Chuck E Cheese

My mother brought Aiden and I to Chuck E Cheese for an unschooling get together. (Thanks Mom!) Only 4 unschooling families showed up but it was still fun. The moderator of our unschooling group is very interested in adding my diapers to her high end baby/child website. I am working on all those details right now. Aiden thought that it was the coolest place he'd been to in a while. He had so much fun eating pizza, playing on the cars and bulldozer, and watching the other kids play. After CEC, we went to the Maine Mall where he continued the fun by running around. KB Toys must have been to him what a fabric store is to me. He pulled toys off the shelf and pushed a popping car all over the store!

Diaper Pin Review Button

I have added this button for anyone who purchases a product from me. There are no listings for my products on there yet so this link brings you to an add product page. I added my Boo Bear Buns fitted diapers but it takes up to 14 days for the item to show. Please do write a review for any products you like! This button is going in the side bar as well.
Thanks,
Aimee

First order of BBB's fitted diapers

Here is the first order of Boo Bear Buns fitted diapers ready to go. I don't even have them in my store yet and I've got some off in the mail! I'm proud of how these turned out. Lots of work went into these diapers and I think that they will be loved. I'll post more pictures of a single diaper soon.