Cindy Lou Who DIY - What My Daughter Wore for Dr. Seuss Day

With baby number three in my belly I am slacking on all things sewing.

Phoebe's Kindergarten class celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday last friday and she was refusing to dress up because I wanted to make her Thing One with a skirt. My bad I figured it would be the easiest manner of getting her dressed in a theme costume and cute Suess colors (red stripes and adorable turquoise).

So finally the night before she decided that she wanted to be Cindy Lou WHo with a light pink nightgown and a HUGE bow.

Not quite the the cartoon character from the Grinch that stole Christmas, but close enough.

It was actually really easy to make.  I started out using the Zinnia Pattern by Lillygiggle (found here). I bought the pattern a long time ago, cut it out, and with sadly it stayed in my to do list for about six months.

I modified the pattern slightly by using Fold Over Elastic around the neckline and adding a ruffle down the front center for a little more color. We already had a wide variety of stripey tights and I just needed to make a huge bow.

For the bow I used grosgrain ribbon wrapped around a headband and then hot glued a HUGE bow on top.

The whole thing probably took me about two hours to whip up, which isn't bad because she loved her costume and she can wear the dress again (hopefully without the headband, but you never know).

It was fun actually working on a sewing project again. Taking the pictures, not so much. The kids just want to be adorably silly and I love it. It takes forever to get a decent, bloggable picture because they are a bunch of goofballs. So what does a photo shoot at my house really look like?

Hope you all have a happy March and I can't wait to see everyone elses Dr. Suess DIY's.

Diaper Rental - The Skinny

First off this is not a paid post. I have no affiliation with any of these companies, but I wanted to share what I have learned in my cloth diapering adventure.

Newborns grow quickly - duh. Before you know it the itty bitty baby clothes are ready to be passed down to your childs baby doll.

Newborns have special diapering needs. Their little legs are too skinny for traditional one size fits all fuzzibuns, bumGenius, Bumkins, or Kissaluvs. You might find a lot of leakage and chaffing on your little baby bottoms.

So after a lot of research instead of buying cloth diapers for the first three months I am going to rent them.

I found several different websites who rent new diapers for as low as $33 a month. You just return them at the end of the three months and move onto the one size fits all diapers.

Here are a few sites and links that rent diapers:

• Sweetbottoms - 24 diapers, a mixture of new and used, brands Swaddlebees organic and Clover Organic Cloth Newborn Daipers. Current price - $215 but you get $100 store credit at the end of your three month trial.
• Kissed by the Moon Rentals - Custom packages based on your needs. You recieve your deposit back in whatever form you paid, not a store credit.
• GoGreen Baby Company - Rental of 24 bumGenius newbore diapers. A mixture of new and used diapers. The initial deposit is $280 with your choice of $185 store credit or $175 cash back on return.
• One Lucky Mama - Six varieties of diaper brands. The cost is a $286.80 deposit. You will be refunded in store credit minus  $10 for cleaning and $10 every two weeks you keep the diapers.  They have a really strick no smoking policy and will not rent to homes that smoke.

These websites are just the tip of the iceberg. I will let you know how the rental goes - only ten more weeks till baby #3.

The Great Cloth Diaper Debate

I have decided to do cloth diapers for my third child.

The thing is there are just so many amazing options. I am pretty much lost.

There are  FuzziBunz, Kissaluvs, Happy Heinys, grove, bumGenius, Thirsties, Econobum, and Flip. I don't even know where to begin to figure out what to start with. I breifly did G-diapers with my first until her daycare didn't allow us to use them (they also charged me $10 a day because I breastfed and my milk was a "biohazard), so I succumbed to the world of disposable. 

Cloth Diaper Me Mommy!

 

At first I thought I would simply go with a diaper service. I was told it would be hard to find one, but I did. They supply the diapers, you put them out to be washed every week and get a fresh supply. So simple.

Now I am thinking I might just do it all myself.  Which would be a big adventure because I hardly get the laundry done as it is. I am heading over to a friends house tomorrow morning to learn about six different diapering systems. Seriously, six. I got a great pattern for making your own from a friend of mine in California, and apparently there is this thing called a diaper sprayer I need to get for my toilet?

I know I am the worlds worst blogger, but this is one adventure I really want to keep everyone up to date on because it is so important. Writing about it will also keep me accountable and since every new momma has some slacker in her I need accountability.

Any questions? Advice? Tips? What not to use or what you love I desperately need input. 

Happy New Year

Can you believe it?

We are about to embark on another new year.

It just wouldn't feel right without recapping 2012, probably the least productive blogging year of my life.

Sorry about that.

I realized in May or June that I really needed to spend more time with my two little ones and less time writing about my crafting adventures.  I would love to say with some sincerity that 2013 will be different, the blog will be back in full force, the upcycling ideas will flow from my head with creative abandonment, but quite honestly, although these are my intentions I have been struggling getting some of the little things done in life, like say getting through the day without puking.

Yes I am pregnant with baby #3, a girl, and I have Hyperemesis Gravdarium. Which is basically morning sickness times 10. I am twenty-two weeks pregnant with my little bundle of joy and down two pounds.

So we will see where the new year takes me, my family, and my life as the T0shirt Diaries author and seamstress. I want to sew, I have a ton of crafty materials, but until I can get through the day without my head in a bucket it might be a while before I am kicking the sewing butt I once did.

Until then have a