The winner of the AFCD giveaway....

was Rebecca and her diaper is in the mail. This is her first cloth diaper - how exciting! I hope she is convinced to make the switch :)



This cloth diaper features the popular Ooga Booga print and yummy organic bamboo velour on the inside. Enjoy!

Handmade Holidays - Ornaments

One year, my mother bought each child an ornament, wrote their names on the bottom, and presented it to them to hang on the tree. Last holiday season, when decorating the tree, the kids came across the ornaments and were so excited to have their very own decoration for the tree. I decided then that each year, each of them would get a new ornament of their own, to hang on our family tree every holiday, until they had their own family tree.

We have an eclectic mix of ornaments on our tree. Some are your typical holiday themes of trees, snowmen and Santa. There are spiders out of egg cartons, snowflakes and candy canes out of beads, pictures hung in felt frames. I even hang the original horrible purple balls (hey, I love purple!) that I bought for our first real tree as a family in Nova Scotia. They all have a place on our tree and each one has a memory attached to it.

Last year, I found some felt ornaments that were very holiday-like. An angel, a reindeer, a snowman and a gingerbread man. This year, I'll be searching for something a little different for our kids. Something that represents each of them, as they are, this Christmas.

Here are some of the ones I've come across so far that I like.

I like the simplicity of this reindeer.



Perfect for a non-traditional little girl ornament.



For a non-traditional big boy :)



For the budding environmentalist, this one's made from reclaimed wood.



These would have a happy home on our tree.



And doesn't every tree need a Christmas cat?

Handmade Holidays - nativity sets

I love the holidays! I love handmade! This year we are having a handmade Christmas.

So why should you buy handmade?

I made that! It's easier to cherish and love something that someone you know, directly or indirectly, made just for you! I spend a lot of time thinking about the perfect gift for people and then making that gift but nothing beats knowing that they love it as much as I loved making it. We are making most of our children's gifts ourselves this year but the ones that we do buy will be handmade by another artisan.

Superior quality! A handmade item is going to be superior in quality. No machines, robots or other whirligigs are going to be involved. Someone is spending their time crafting each item. And it shows :)

Unique! When there aren't molds involved, every item is going to be unique. Not the same! Embrace handmade!

Support your local economy! Most artisans will list where they are located - support your local crafters!

So where do you find all these treasures? Check out your local craft shows - there are always craft shows this time of year. And if you see something you like - grab it! Chances are it will be gone by the time you come back.

I'll be at two craft shows this season:
November 7 - Halifax Independent School 9-5
December 5, 6 - Olympic Centre on Cunard Street, 10-5

You can also find lots of cool, handmade items on Etsy and Artfire.

I am a member of the Natural Kids Team on Etsy. All items are made from natural and organic materials. From toys, to clothing, to accessories, to cloth diapers ;) Check out the team listings and what they have to offer here.

Of course, I have my list started. Today's subject Nativity Sets. These are all so gorgeous. I love the needle felted ones but with lots of little hands in the house I love the idea of wood ones, too. Check them out and show these crafters some love :)

Wanna be a star?

Wow! I'm going to be on t.v.! A local journalist wants to interview me and talk to some of my customers. So does anyone local want to be interviewed? He is interested in why we are using cloth diapers. It will be filmed at my house so it needs to be local customers, although if you want to travel you can ;)

He wants to film this soon so let me know if you are interested!!

New smalls...

Hello boys! Finally some cute cloth diapers for you. These fabrics are so cute.



And of course the girls can't be left out. I *think* the ballerina one is already spoken for. If you're interested I can always make another ;)



These will be listed on Etsy and Artfire this afternoon.

Customs Updates....

Heidi - Ready to be shipped :) I'm heading to the post office first thing this morning.

Alaina - Ready to be shipped :) Off to the post office.

Rebecca - Fabrics is prepped. Will get snapping today ;)

If you wish any custom cloth diapers I am making a list now.

Green is the new black?

Or maybe it's plaid? I don't know, I'm not very into fashion, as those of you who know me can attest ;)

But hey, it's trendy to be green these days. There are plenty of things you can do to help lessen your footprint. Some are easy, some not so easy.

So what are you doing?

I've posted my list before here but it needs some amendments. Mainly because we bought a vehicle. *and I hang my head in shame*.

So the BIG things I do, you know, besides recycle and compost, because all the kids are doing that, right? At the very least, everyone should be doing this.

1 - I'm not a consumer. Yeah, sure, I shop but I don't head to the mall or the stores to see what's there, in fact, I hardly go at all. I try to buy our clothes second hand and hand down our clothes to people with kids, etc... Our house isn't full of the latest gadgets, we don't have the greatest furniture and we have closets full of clothes. I always try to think about how much I need this product, how long it's going to last, what happens to it when we're done with it, etc... It turns out we need very little.

2 - I buy local. Or try to. My mom taught us the importance of knowing where your food comes from when we were younger and focussing on the freshness and health benefits. Now I do it because of the environmental effects of travelling food, too.

3 - I try to curb my energy consumption. In Nova Scotia we burn coal for electricity. Yikes! I hang my clothes out to dry, I turn lights off when we're not in rooms and don't turn our heat on until the end of November, yes it's electric. Coming for a visit? Bring a sweater and slippers ;)

4 - I let my kids know the importance of being ecologically responsible. In this day and age kids are more aware than ever of the need to protect the earth. We teach them to turn off the water when they are brushing their teeth, turn off the lights, walk to school, use cloth bags, etc. etc. etc.

5 - We take the bus. Yes we still do. This city does not have parking so if we are going downtown we will use transit. I challenge anyone to say they can't use transit. Our transit runs not-so-great and we have four children yet we managed to use transit *exclusively* until 2 months ago when we bought our first vehicle. Was it easy? No. But we did it. And lived to tell the tale.

6 - My business is as eco-friendly as I can make it. I use mostly organic fabrics sourced from as close to me as possible. I recycle the scraps for other projects. And cloth diapers? They're pretty green. I wash them and hang them to dry. I only use the dryer for them in desperation.

So what is everyone else doing? I thought I was doing well until I read an article where a family of 4 only produces 1 bag of garbage a MONTH!!! Holy cow that's incredible. What are they doing? What can I do better? Share your ideas.