Bring on the festive season - Advent Calendar!!!

Hello world,


Last blog I mentioned the advent calendar I wanted to purchase and today I did, so I thought I'd share it here tonight :)

Picked this one up for $10 from Big W but you could make one or find a different one online somewhere if you can't get the Big W one I've got. (The pockets didnt come filled - I just forgot to take a photo before I had put them all in while I figured out the activities!)

To fill the pockets and write our day by day Christmas activities on I also bought a pack of gift tags - they were $6 for 50 so I've got half of them left to use on gifts and they fit well in the assorted pockets. I'm a bit funny so I've been cutting out bits of cardboard all night to cover the TO and FROM on the back of the cards. If I had a printer I would have just printed out the activities and glued them on the pack but I don't :) If you did have a printer you could print them straight on cardboard and cut them out to use rather than buying some.


So after all my prep pasting little bits of cardboard to other bits of cardboard I needed a list of 24 activities to write on them - and here it is in no particular order (except xmas eve dinner which clearly will be occuring on xmas eve!)

1. Put up the Christmas tree
2. Put up the outdoor lights
3. Write a letter to Santa
4. Choose a special Christmas treat (I will wrap up a few special christmas treats that Piper and her future siblings can pick from in the future - may not do it this year as she is 9mo and won't really get it - but I might do it anyway!)
5. Place your special ornament on the Christmas tree
6. Drive around and see the Christmas lights
7. Mail out the Christmas cards
8. Visit Santa
9. Go for a walk to collect pine cones
10. Go to the library to pick out some Christmas books
11. Make Christmas Cookies
12. Drive around and see the Christmas lights
13. Buy a gift for the wishing tree
14. Listen to Christmas carols
15. Do a Christmas craft
16. Wrap some presents
17. Make pinecone bird feeder and hang outside
18. Make candy cane play dough
19. Watch a Christmas movie together
20. Go to Carols by Candlelight and have a family picnic dinner
21. Make handprint/footprint ornaments
22. Fish and Chips for dinner down at the beach
23. Unwrap a special Christmas treat
24. Have traditional xmas eve dinner with family
    
    
    You probably noticed that I doubled up on a few, I did this intentionally, you don't have to!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    And here are some awesome blogs for inspiration for creating your own Christmas activites advent calendar:
      
    
    
    Puddles and Gumboots 
      
    Untrained Housewife  
    
    
    The Artful Parent 
    
    
    Code Name: Mama 
    
    
    Kiddley 
    
    
    all things simple
    
    
    
    
     The Christmas Book Advent Calendar is an idea that I love and will be putting to use - maybe not this year as I've got 2 days to buy 24 Christmas books - but definately for future Christmas'
    
    
    So another tick off the list waiting for the christmas month to arrive - one family activities advent calendar :
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Jodi xo

Bring on the festive season - Part 2!!!

Hello world!

Well after last nights blog we've got my little Pie's xmas wardrobe sorted. Now to the house:

Todays blog is about the decorations:

Last year - when I was pregnant and stuck on chair rest (like bed rest but basically had to sit all the time!) is when I took up sewing, I'd never had any interest in it before that and one of the first projects I did was to make felt christmas decorations. I made some green and red and whites ones to use to decorate gifts - silver gift wrap, white ribbon and a little felt decoration looked quite nice:

 

These are so easy to make, so I thought I'd share a tutorial (with no step by step photos cos I dont have any!) for you all.

So start by collecting the felts you want to use - as a preschool teacher I've made many a felt play set so I just used my scraps bags for mine but if you need to buy specifically then get yourself along to any cheapy shop - the crazy clarks/go-los/$2 shops of the world or a craft shop and you'll find plenty - its about $1 a sheet of felt. Also get a little thin ribbon for hangers and you can use scraps of bright ribbons to decorate them - like I've done to these colourful decorations I made to keep for our 2011 xmas tree (cos they didn't at all go with 2010 colour theme):

 

 Ok cut shapes out of the felt - google xmas decorations stencils - you will find heaps of inspirations - or you can just do circles like on this christmas garland version I made last night:

Cut out all of your shapes - if you're decorating them then use a little craft glue to hold the pretty blingy bits in place or pin them there.

 

Once ur happy with how they look:

For decoartions - tack a loop of ribbon to wherever u want the hanger to go on ur decoration

For garland - tack the decoration to whatever you're using for the garland - I used ric rack, you could use string, ribbon, even tinsel, whatever floats your boat ;)

Then (for both types) place a piece of felt on the back side ensuring that it is big enough to cover the entire decoration with a little extra around the edges - and sew the pieces together. Trim off the excess back felt leaving a little margin of felt like in the pictures - DONE! Continue til they are all finished :)

This is really a simple craft and because felt is such an easy to work with fabric you can easily do this with children - get the kids to use glue instead of sewing them and you can later sew them together so that they will be long lasting! You can also up the anti and make a really special set of felt ornaments like these or these, a pretty gardland like this or a gorgeous 3D garland like this one. I sewed vintage buttons on to my garland for something a little different (photo to come!) Hit google or pinterest and let yourself be inspired!

Now this year I was really keen to make an advent calendar BUT its only 3 days til it will be time to use an advent calendar so I think I'll end up buying a felt one I saw at Big W. It will last us a few years and by then I might be clever enough to make a really gorgeous one! I'm loving the idea of a reuseable advent calendar with little cards in each pocket with a Christmas activity for us to do as a family - inspiration thanks to Pinterest here - put up the christmas tree, make cookies, go see Santa, look at the Christmas lights, watch a Christmas movie, listen to christmas carols etc. When Pie is older (If her dairy intolerance gets grown out of!) I'm sure she will still want a little advent calendar with chocolates BUT I really want her to enjoy the experience of christmas, not just the presents and junk food!

Another decoration I've 'made' this year is a photo ornament - I got a free one by going here and I plan to make a photo ornament every year - imagine when I'm older and my baby (and her siblings that I hope we will have in years to come) are all grown and have left home and I'll still have all of their beautiful faces throughout the years right there on my xmas tree!

Again I would love to hear about or see any xmas decoration crafting you and your family have been making!

 Jodi xo

Nappy Review - B Cheeks One Size Nappies

Hello world,

 

Tonight I'm going to be talking about B cheeks - which I also love - if you're looking for bad reviews then this isn't the blog to go to BUT my reviews are honest ones so don't think they are just crap, I just don't review products I'm unimpressed by :)

I was lucky to discover B Cheeks when Daily Baby Buys had the PUL ones for half price - I got the VHC (cos I love the VHC) and as soon as I got it I wished I'd gotten the dotty one too cos its such a great user friendly nappy. 

Here's what the website says:

"New BumCheeks One Size Embroidered Nappies will fit your baby from birth right through to Toilet training!

Made from beautiful printed PUL, exclusive to Bumcheeks these nappies have a layer of waterproof PUL inside and a soft suede cloth lining. The pocket has two hidden layers of  fast drying micrfibre and a fold over 2 layer Bamboo Insert. 1 row of 10 snaps and 2 Rise settings mean that they have a large variation in size, 3 snaps on the arms means no wing droop. Soft elastic legs do not leave marks on even the chunkiest thighs. 4-16"

So now for my say: lets start with the outside -

I am now the proud owner of the PUL very hungry caterpillar, the orange minky embroidered VHC and the pink minky embroidered VHC. The embroidered nappies have been discontinued so I won't bother discussing the embroidery (except to say that the VHC is adorabley bright - but you can see that in the pics below!) As mentioned on the website - they have 3 snaps on the arms, this was the first feature I noticed and it made me so happy - wing droopage drives me crazy! The nappy has 3 rise settings and a single row of snaps around the tummy (and as discussed - 3 snaps per arm!). Its elasticated at the back and legs and is front snapping. The back elastic pulls it in really nice and tightly over the butt and its not a very bulky nappy.

Fabrics - the minky colours are so bright! when I opened my package of embroidered VHC I was blown away by the colours and the first thing I told my husband was that they were the brightest coloured nappies I'd seen. He later spotted them hanging on the line and even he commented on how bright they were. The embroidered ones I have, have a thin band of cotton fabric (in this case the VHC spot fabric) across the back of the nappy and spreading down each arm (see below). This is really well stitched and placed to sit nicely both when the nappy is stretched to fit the biggest bubs and cinched in to fit the tiny ones too - and adds a lovely contrast to the look of the nappy.

The PUL is sturdy and soft to touch without feeling too plasticy like some PULs - the print is good too.

 

And now for the inside:

The inside layer is suede cloth. This nappy has a hidden stitched in booster - so its like an AIO with a pocket to add extra boosting power! The hidden microfibre layers are soft and fluffy and if you had to you could use it briefly without the bamboo inserts cos they would soak up a fair bit of wee. 

The pocket is a good stitched down envelope pocket which has enough cross over to keep things concealed and is low enough that you don't have to worry about Daddy or Nanny putting the nappy on with the pocket flaps hanging out over the back! 

The insert is a long fold over bamboo insert which snaps together to make it easier to insert and leaves you with 4 layers of bamboo (plus the 2 layers of microfibre - its a thirsty nappy!) 

Having the fold over insert makes it faster to dry but the nappy shell with the hidden layers of absorbency is a little slower to dry than pocket nappies that don't have this - but faster to dry than your average AIO. If I put them on my drying rack indoors I have to turn them inside outwards and then flip them over a few hours later, to let everything dry - on the line with a bit of a breeze they usually dry fine throughout the day.

The fit:

(Photograph of my beautiful girl by Willowtree moments) Although these nappies don't have gussets or thigh snaps they fit snuggly around Pie's thighs - and they fit well when her thighs were much skinnier too. They sit a little higher than some nappies (Pipers on the shortest rise setting as is 9mo, 8.15kg and 70cm tall) and they are so thirsty that they can go a while without changing - they are a fave for shopping days as they usually see us through the whole trip! You can also buy trifold boosters to use your BCheeks nappies for night nappies (or for really heavy wetters).

Styles - B Cheeks do plain minky colours, denim with cotton printed bands and pul nappies. I haven't tried the plain minky or the denim but from their description I think they are made to the same pattern as the PUL and embroidereds. They also make a newborn cover but I've only seen this on their site. Their current christmas nappies are apliqued minky so I'm crossing my fingers that they might replace the embroidered with appliqued but only time will tell.

You can check them out on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/B-Cheeks-Modern-Cloth-Nappies/208091333759

And their website:

http://www.bcheeks.com.au/

And here is a list of Aussie stockists too:

http://www.bcheeks.com.au/pages/Australia.html

Jodi xo

Bring on the festive season!!!

Hello world,

Time for a lazy craft blog to help you do all the projects I've been doing this past week and the theme is CHRISTMAS!!!! All of a sudden, this week I've found my christmas spirit and I'm getting quite excited for sharing my baby girls first Christmas with her! This entry has also got some info about the Xmasy shopping we've done lately too!

For a first christmas we need a christmas wardrobe and thats what this particular blog is about:

So the first part of my little cutie Pies wardrobe is a rocking xmas tee-dress!

 

I've dicussed how to do these in the Budget Mummy blog but briefly:

• Get a tshirt a couple of sizes too big - Pipers just about an 0 and this is a size 3 boys t-shirt. 
• Cut the sleeves off cutting right next to the stitching line and then cut straight across the top of the tee shirt to cut the neck of the shirt off - I curve mine slightly around the neck but you can cut straight across and it will still turn out beautifully. 
• Edge the new arm holes with bias binding - I used a red satin to make it pretty and christmasy but you can use whatever - you can get bias binding in metalics, prints, satins, mattes and all sorts of colours. If your really feeling it you can also make your own - check this tutorial for more info. 
• Now after you've edged the sleeve holes you can either do what I've done with this one - slightly gather the front and then edge it with bias binding (leaving excess for tying it up at the shoulders) and gather th back tighter and edge it with bias binding (and extra for tying) too or you can treat it like a pillow case dress, fold over the top to make a hem, thread ribbon through and tie it up like that :) 
• Ta-da, one unique christmas dress thats perfect for play time!

 The 2nd part of Piper's christmas wardrobe is a reindeer apliqued singlet:

 

I used this awesome blog tutorial for this - I copied the reindeer stencil, stitched it onto a singlet, added a lace bow and matching lace cap sleeves (which I have stitched down since this photo and will add another photo of later - didnt like the way the lace was sticking up!) and we're in business.

Part 3 of Pipers Christmas wardrobe:

Christmas nappies (and no, not huggies xmas print sposies - real nappies of course!)

Now I have made her 1 nappy so far and have plans to make another one or two but her special christmas nappies are:

The Seedling Baby Red Nappy

and

The Seedling Baby Green nappy! These two are currently together in a special xmas pack for $30 which is rediculous (these nappies retails at $28ea!).
 
I picked mine up from Rascal Rumps and if you don't know how good seedling baby sizeless pocket nappies are then you should really read my blog more often!

AND

The Itti Bitti limited edition Galaxy print (love! also from Rascal Rumps)



(you may have also noticed Pie wearing a red minky Baby Beehinds AI2 petite above - this will be getting a work out with our xmas wardrobe of course)

AND I am seriously considering getting one of these gorgeous WAHM made AI2s from the lovely Cassie at Itty Bitty Bums - even tho I really don't need it - but its so pretty and I LOVE Cassie's nappies!!!!! This one if $19.95 and there are only 2 left! (But I could go the xmas heart or the candy cane AI2 if this one sold out!)


Now Part 4 is Christmas baby legwarmers! My Pie is a bit of a shorty in the legs department (like her Mummy) and I'm yet to find any baby legwarmers that fit so I've been desperately (and with no luck!) searching for cute xmas socks to turn into baby socky legs like in my previous blog but instead have settled with:

The red ones which I got on ebay last year (they still dont really fit her but aren't they pretty!) and as luck would have it the other day I won a pair of these green ones from Cloth Nappies on facebook! So baby legs are now sorted. Though I am also loving the xmas baby leg warmers I'm seeing at "all about bub" - they've also got cute xmas ruffley nappy covers on the way too if you're looking for a pretty nappy cover!

And since we've got babylegs I was thinking Pie would really rock this look:

So I'd need a cute headband - sorted thanks to Gemma Joy

A cute (short sleeved cos I don't want to over heat my girl!) festively decorated top (which I made from a red tshirt and inspiration gained from this adorable photo floating around on Pinterest

and a tutu - I made mine white tulle tied on a piece of vintage red lace to tie it up with and its much shorter than the one pictured in the tutorial link cos who knows, Pie might start crawling this holiday season!

Next part of Pie's xmas wardrobe is *gasp* store bought and *dramatic pause* from Aldi! Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere online so will have to get a pic of Pie in it sometime soon :) Its a white dress with a tiered skirt with silver stars on it - she will be wearing this to our Mummy's group xmas party, shopping etc!

And the final part of her Christmas Wardrobe is a dress made by Mummy (me, not my Mummy) which I'm still working on (well still thinking about working on actually but I've got some inspiration and some gorgeous paisley print fabric from spotlights xmas fabric range so its on its way!)

I will add a few photos of Pie in her various outfits as they get worn so check back closer to Christmas and I would love to hear about any Christmas baby/kid wardrobe crafts that you've been working on too :)

Jodi xo

Nappy Review - Seedling Baby Sizeless pocket nappy with snaps

Hello World,

So I decided that I might use this blog to talk some more about nappies and even review some of the nappies I've tried. I'm going to start with my latest newby, the seedling baby sizeless which is a osfm (one size fits most) pocket nappy with snaps (luckily - as Miss Pie thinks velcro is great fun to pull open at the moment!)

Now I was lucky enough to score this nappy for FREE when Seedling Baby did some very very generous giveaways recently but I've been eyeing them for months wanting to buy one! I think its the gingham that really drew me - its just so dang cute and unique!!!! And I've been tossing up between the red and the black, (even though I have maybe 8 black nappies and 6 red nappies!!!!) but the gorgeous freebie I got was yellow! This actually works out perfectly as I would have never bought yellow and it is gorgeous and Pie looks awesome in yellow too, see:

So a little about the nappy as described at seedlingbaby.com.au:
The Seedling Baby Sizeless Pocket nappy is a one-size modern cloth nappy designed with busy parents in mind. While we haven’t reinvented the wheel, we did want to develop a nappy that is simple to use by Mum, Dad, Grandma and carers.
We realized there was a niche in the market for a pocket style one-size, double-gusseted nappying system that is simple to use, effective, fast drying, cute and affordable.
We like to give you, the primary nappy-changer, the option of closure type, so our nappies are available in either snap or hook and loop (Velcro) closure.
We think gingham goes with anything and our first four colours are gender neutral, with more gender specific colours set for release throughout 2011.

(Note: now have all 3 other colours headed my way - Jodi 16/11/2011)

So now for my say: lets start with the outside -
The fabric is lovely! Seriously, my mum has been raving about this nappy since she laid eyes and hands on it! A gorgeous crisp gingham in an almost mustard yellow and white with matching yellow trim. It has 4 height or rise settings and a double row of snaps around the waist to stop wing droopage (Hallelujah cos I hate wing droopage and think double snaps make them fit so much nicer!) It elasticated at the legs and back but not the front so it sits very flat at the front. The crotch is fairly trim so it fits really well and although I didn't bother hiding putting it under clothes, it looks trim enough to fit nicely in pants.

The gusset is the first one like it thats I've ever seen - don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its the only gusset like this in a nappy, its just the only one I've seen! Its deep - about an inch at the deepest point so it hugs thighs beautifully to avoid legs leaks, but on the inside its also really soft, so the gussets dont leave nasty red marks from all the work they are doing keeping those chubby/skinny/inbetweeny thighs dry! And the entire nappy is lined with the same extra soft, snuggly, white fabric - I just wish I could curl up and have a snooze in the lining of this nappy, its so, so soft!!! Inside we find a pocket and when you reach in and pull out the contents of that pocket you will find not 1 but 2 bamboo cotton blend inserts: 1 long hour glass shaped insert and a snap on piggy back booster. And let me tell you, they are soft and fluffy and look to be thick and thirsty!!! I can't say too much about the absorbency yet - Pie only had hers on about an hour and a half when she decided to christen that lovely fluffy crisp white lining! And of course Mummy forgot to put a flushable liner in when she was too busy admiring the beautiful lining while we put this one on :(
Now the one thing that I will say is that the boosters are quite tight to get in. But I don't really see this as a negative - the entire inside of the nappy is full when you use both inserts (and even with just the one it would be filled to the edges perfectly as its the perfect width) so there is none of the sliding around you can get with some inserts and pocket nappies, it stays firmly in place doing exactly what you want it to be doing! It just takes a little practice to get the inserts in, nice and flat, but there is an instructional video on seedling baby's website if you get really stuck! Also the opening of the pocket doesnt have an extra flap to close it off completely which I wasn't a fan of when I first saw this. But I soon came around, its sewn so well that the pocket edges stay together nicely and theres no worries of the inserts crawling up the back as can happen with some pockets.


Over all, I am a HUGE fan of this nappy and have decided I want it in ALL the colours!!! And right now there is a fabulous XMas pack available at Seedling baby retailers which includes 1 red and 1 green seedling baby sizeless pocket nappy, bundled together with a gift tag and candy cane (so its ready for gifting!) for just $30 - I think that these 2 seedling nappies along with the itti bitti galaxy limited ed print will have Pie all sorted for Xmas nappies :) We've got them all heading our way from the lovely people at www.rascalrumps.com.au (Plus I've made her one and will probably make another 1 or 2 so we can be sure she will be covered for the entire day :)

Head over to facebook
http://www.facebook.com/seedlingbaby
and their website
http://seedlingbaby.com.au/store/Default.asp
to check them out and find out where to get yours!

Jodi xo