Cloth diapering for the vintage gal

The more I dive into the green lifestyle the more I see how it also coincides with my retro lifestyle. Cloth diapering, cooking at home, shopping the farmers market are all things of yesteryear that we are starting to do again. Hey even the super fabolous Joan Holloway cloth diapers her little one and every knows Ms. Holloway can do no wrong.

That being said I am going to finally talk about my cloth diapering experiences.  There is so much information and everyone is so curious that I'm dedicating a week to cloth diapering. I'm sure you've heard about how much better for the environment it is. How cloth diapers don't have all the chemicals that disposables have. How they can save you hundreds of dollars. But have you seen the diapers of today they are so cute! We have taken Joan's diaper and revamped them!!

On this first post I'm just going to give you a run down of my routine: 

So you put a clean diaper on your baby just like you would a disposable  little one will wear it until he poops or no longer than two hours with just pee.

When it's time to change LO I take the diaper off shake any poops into the potty. Then stick the dirty diaper into my diaper pail.

Sometimes if the poops kinda of loose I will have to hose it in the sink. The only added thing with that is I will disinfect the sink when I'm done. Then about every two days I take my whole diaper pail and dump everything straight into the washing machine.

You pre-rinse in cold, wash hot water with a cloth diaper safe detergent. (There are many on the market, but the one most recommended in the cloth diapering community is Rocking Green) Lastly you need to do one more cold rinse to get any residue left. Cloth diapering has taught me a lot about my washing machine. lol!! I line dry my diapes because I love to line dry everything except my towels (makes them too crunchy) and living in California I have more days where the weather is perfect for this then not.

And that's it!!! Clean diapes ready to go onto babys butt once again. 

Vintage Dress Fail

I started wearing dresses after Nic was born. My whole body shaped had changed and I just didn't feel comfortable in jeans anymore, and a pretty dress will make you feel so... pretty. Some days when I'm being short with the kids and I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to accomplish everything I will just put on a dress and my whole attitude will change. I'll smile more, sit up taller, and just feel happier. I think because it's a small thing I do for myself.
Now I am always on the hunt for beautiful, affordable retro dresses. We do not have a rockabilly or retro store nearby so I go online; which can mean ending up with a lemon or two. I bought this one vintage house dress on etsy and I absolutely love it. Well....the hubby hates it! lol So the dress doesn't flatter but it's really comfortable.
So I thought maybe it's the colors and if I could change that he'd like it a little better, and I set off to make another one myself. I'm pretty good at the sewing machine but I've never sewn a dress and especially without a pattern. I do like a challenge.
I have to say I did a good job! It is a really well put together dress...that I hate! I get it now why Hector doesn't like it. With the color change it totally showed the lack of shape. Boo! Oh well it was great sewing practice and a major sewing confidence boost. I can't wait to try another dress! Now what to do with the dress?!

the original

simple A line for the bottom

the hardest part was measuring and cutting

don't you love the pattern

oh yes the ironing

turning out so cute

ummm....not so much! lol

Mustache First Birthday

I'm so sorry! I have been gone for way too long! Matty turned one! Hooray! Boo! One already...No not yet. I love watching my little guy grow up, but sometimes I wish he would do it a little slower. The big day still happened, so we had to party in style. The hubs and I decided to go with the trend and have an awesome mustache party. Here are the highlights.

  

What to wear? My mom went down to the craft store and picked up  half a yard of mustache fabric and the possibilities became endless. I ended up sewing two mustache tie shirts for the boys and one mustache cloth diaper for Matt.

What's for dessert? I made mustache cookies(yummy). The cupcakes are basic yellow cake, but I made the mustache toppers of milk chocolate, white chocolate and butterscotch. Then for a little extra I got some suckers added a mustache sticker then headed to the dollar store. There I picked up floral sponge foam to put into the bottom of  tupperware that I covered in mustache duct tape. A little colored grass on top and perfection!


What to eat? I decided not to make all the food and we just had the local Mexican food market cater. Can we say muy  delicioso! (Sorry no pic)

What to give my guest as a thank you? Jelly belly and Skittle filled  bags.

Most importantly we had our big birthday boy there!!!

Dr Sears nibble tray

 Now I don't think I've mentioned this in my other blog posts yet, but my oldest, Nic, was born a micropreemie. He was born at 28 weeks weighing 3lbs 4oz. He has done really well and exceeded all expectations, but we have had a lot of trouble putting weight on him. Nic is still on the small side. I have looked everywhere for help to get him caught up. During my research I found the Dr Sears nibble tray made by Zak! What a helper! The tray is in the fun shape of a pineapple. It has six compartments to put food in and three extra stay cold in the top. I can fill this super cute tray up with all kinds of healthy foods in the morning and it's ready to go for snacking. It gives me piece of mind knowing if he eats most of the tray and his three regular meals we are on track. It's works so well with Nic that I recently bought one for Matt. The boys love the freedom of choice and since it's reserved for healthy foods only I know what they are eating is good for them.

Here's a few things the boys enjoy in their nibble tray:
olives, pasta wheels, tofu, cucumbers, carrots (cooked for Matts), avocado  strawberries, blueberries, raspberries  Cheerios, cheese, broccoli, trail mix

Here's a few ideas for the stay cool side for dipping:
pureed pumpkin, hummus, cream cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, and Nutella

These are my suggestions feel free to add your own. And if you are interested here's the link to buy: Dr-Sears-Nibble

I think it's a hit!

homemade cloth diaper wipes

         When I started cloth diapering I was told that eventually I would want to switch to cloth wipes also. I really didn't believe it. I was so grossed out by the thought of throwing a poop filled piece of cloth into a diaper pail then into the washing machine. During the next three months I kept going back and forth on the idea. Finally I thought I'm going to make my own that way if I don't like it then I'm out no money and I don't feel obligated to use them. So while at my Dad's house for Christmas my Step-mom, Susan pulled out her serger and we got to work.  

         To make it even more cost efficient I used my old flannel receiving blankets for material. I simply cut the material into 8x8 squares the night before. The next day while the kid-o's played with Grandpa, Susan and I took two squares right sides out and serged up each side. It was so much fun and surprisingly rewarding to make them myself. 

           I love using my homemade wipes. And there is no poop filled cloth; that was very dramatic thinking! lol In fact I find them to be less messy than disposable wipes because cloth wipes don't smear the poop around my little guy's bum. I have a diaper wipes warmer so I just roll each wipe up and put them in there. I've been buying California baby wipes solution but my local Target just stopped carrying it . I going to have to find a replacement for that. I still keep some disposable wipes around for outings and faces. But all in all love my cloth wipes. Now the hubby on the other hand still does not like using them. Oh well I do most the changes anyways!

yep my three year old said that

Oh Nic, my first born, my life! I love my three year old Nicolas; he is a very good and kind person.

But...he has a mouth on him!!! lol As a baby he was so serious. He would study everything, and he never  tried something until he knew he had mastered it. Then he turned two and started talking. 

Here are a few of the things that have come out of his mouth:

-"mommy I wasn't talking to you I was talking to those humans over there." Humans being a passerby at the beach.

- to a little girl at a play group "if you don't share that with me I'm going to get mad."

- "Matty and myself are really feeling tvish today."

- me, "are you trying to goat me into an argument?"  Nic, "yes mommy it's a game called sass mouth."

-the paw broke off an old ceramic dog, "oh it's a dire wolf paw. I'd better go categorize it."

-One night as I as lay Nic down to sleep he told me that he didn't want to have any more dreams. I asked him why. He said, "I had a scary dream." After I explained about nightmares and dreams and how they are not real and can't hurt him I asked him what the dream was about. Nic replied with one wild story. "we was in Alaska and there was a grizzly bear and he he pooped in the snow. And I can't tell you the rest it's too scary." Poor kid!

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shhh...I have a secret for you

I have a new love-  Secrets of a Pinup (S.O.A.P.) skin care! Ladies, I'm sure you can identify with me when I say that I have tried every skin care product out there. Growing up I have always had issues with my skin. I've never really known how to take care of it. Along comes Dayna Rae and her "world renowned Vintage and Retro inspired skin care products." How fabulous does that sound?!

Secrets of a Pinup

First I have to say that Dayna Rae is so personable. She was quick and knowledgeable when I had questions on which product would be right for my skin. My package arrived in the mail two days after I ordered and I opened it up to wash my face right away. The French Silk cleanser smells amazing! It is my all time favorite cleanser. It's the only one I've ever used that truly cleans without over drying. Other products I've found will clean and  leave an oily reside behind; this is so not the case with French Silk. After cleansing my skin looks bright and youthful. Then you use the High Ball toner, this toner is made to get rid of extra oil so I only use it on my oily parts. I finish up with Satin-Luxe moisturizer and oh how my skin loves this! Lately I've noticed a few new wrinkles (chasing after a three and one year old will do that). But thanks to Satin-Luxe nobody knows I only get four hours of sleep each night. If I could only use one word to describe Secrets of a Pinup it would be quality! Her products are made in the U.S.A. and never tested on animals.

So here's my "before" pic. I know it's scary! lol

And my after pic!  Transformed into Pinup Perfect!!

Well I cheated a little and put on eye make up. I just couldn't stand showing another "naked" face pic. lol  But seriously no foundation!