I have a webstore.....besides Etsy!!!!

www.littlemoosediapers.com

I have been working hard at finishing the appearance of it.  Since I know virtually nothing about HTML and all that computer stuff, this has been challenging....thank goodness for premade templates!

At present, I have stocked some adorable Pink and Teal wool diaper covers, a few fitted diapers, longies, burb cloths, washcloths....I am so excited to be on the web in a location other than Etsy.  Etsy is great, but I like the idea of having my own domain name.  And with Etsy, I was limited to sell only what I made.  While the majority of my items will continue to be handmade by me, I have also enlisted the help of my mother, Leigh.  She will be doing the majority of knitting and crocheting for me. 

You can look for items from my mom such as Longies, washcloths, slippers, perhaps a few baby items as well...we'll see how much she is able to do!

I am trying to come up with a sale deal....perhaps a free gift with purchase, or a percentage off...not sure yet.   Maybe a few free for shipping items...where all you pay is shipping...any suggestions?

Blessings,
Hope

I have finally come up with a name for my business.  Yes, I had one, MommaH Diapers, but I didn't particularly like it...so, after much prayer, and debate, I have settled on Little Moose Diapers. 

With this new name, I am striving for a more professional business.  I will be carrying my items in some local stores soon, and plan to attend some craft and trade shows.  I am in the process of closing my MommaH Etsy store and moving things over to Little Moose Diapers. 
Through this new store, I have a custom order for 60 diapers which will be carried in a Baby Boutique in my hometown!  These will be All in One Diapers - fifteen of every size!  What a blessing!

Be sure to sign up for store updates at Little Moose Diaper's Blog, including a Grand Opening Sale for Mid May!

Blessings,
Hope

I thought I would show you all my first serging project - a few cloth wipes.  I am amazed how much quicker it is to make them like this!   In the past, I've been straight stitching them with the right sides facing, leaving about 2 inches open, turning them, and then topstitching. 



In under 10 minutes, I had these 4 wipes cut and serged!  Done!  Amazing...I'm gunna LOVE this serger!

Blessings,
Hope

As many of you already know, I make and sell cloth diapers and other baby items.  I have had fairly good success with these.  Well, I am redesigning and growing my little business.  While I will continue to sell under MommaH for the time being, I have opened a new store, Little Moose Diapers.  You can find my new store here: www.littlemoosediapers.etsy.com .  

I have a new logo, a cute little moose frolicking on a knoll, complete with a passy and a diaper!  I am nearly in love with the little guy.  I haven't much of anything listed at present, but that's because of lack of time to sew and list!  If all I had to do all day was sew, the store would be FULL, but, School MUST come first, then my other little projects. 

I do have three stores (actual real stores, one online and two local ones) who are interested in carrying my diapers, one has even ordered 15 All in ones of each size!  What a blessing!

So, soon as you get a chance, shoot on over to http://www.littlemoosediapers.etsy.com and check it out!

Blessings,
Hope

Have you heard of the CPSIA? 

After all the tainted toys from China were discovered, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) .   This act is designed to protect our children from the contamination of lead and other harmful products by requiring items designed for use by children be tested.  But, a problem exists....the cost of testing an item by an approved laboratory is around $4000 - PER ITEM.  There is no way many of the Mom and Pop stores can afford that. 

This will affect each and every one of us in some way:  Have you ever bought anything from a Work at Home Mom?  Every shopped on Etsy?   Ever bought a pair of handknitted mittens?  How about local made wooden toys?  If the CPSIA continues on the path it is on, these handmade items will virtually dissappear.  These small WAHMs and Mom and Pop operations can't afford $4000 per item.  Poof - no more buying one of a kind handmade items - or at least the ones we can afford.  

But then there is more...what about the economic impact of the CPSIA.  Many of your local stores sell handmade items...and if the items aren't tested, then they can't sell them either...and if they are a store which counts on a large revenue from the sale of handmade items, they may close shop.  If these small stores begin to close, it will have a rippling effect on your neighborhood - a few more unemployed people, a few more people leaning on the government for assistance...higher taxes to cover the increased expense of the governement helping people....

Now I am going to ask you to do something.  I am asking that each and every one of you reading this write a letter to your Congressmen and Senators.  You can contact them here: Congress Person here and Senator here.

I've made it easy for you to contact them with the links above.  Now I'm making it even easier - you don't have to write a letter of your own.  You can copy and paste the letter I have written below.  Feel free to alter the letter in anyway you feel you should.  You can also find a sample letter here: http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

Many of you know I opened a few online stores to seel my cloth diapering supplies...and I finally sold something on ETSY!!!!

A pair of newborn longies - wool pants that go over a cloth diaper.  What a blessing.  I was begining to (shamefully admitting this) become doubtful.  I suppose the Lord just wants to teach me patience!

Here's my store link: www.MommaH.etsy.com

God Bless,

Hope

Here is a link to the new CHRISTIAN Diaper Sewing Group I founded in light of Christians not being able to post anything related to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit on the one I was a member of.  This new group is a place where you can go to learn about sewing cloth diapers, fabrics and notions used, and share your love of the Lord without offending anyone.

There are lots of links on the group to various free patterns and information about cloth diapering as well.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChristianDiaperSewing/

God Bless,

Hope

I have opened an Etsy store to sell the cloth diapers I am making....check it out:

www.MommaH.etsy.com

Blessings,

Hope

Here is a list of links I have saved all in one way or another dealing with sewing your own cloth diapers.

Diaper Sewing Links I have foudn useful:

A comparison of free patterns
http://baroquestar.livejournal.com/176873.html

Diaper Sewing Helps
http://www.diaperkit.com/catalog/index.php?page=sewing-help.htm

Diaper Sewing tutorials
http://www.geocities.com/mytafadhali/DiaperSewingTutorials.htm?200722

Lots of Diaper sewing links here
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=8718935

Fitted Cloth Diaper
http://mayna.livejournal.com/198548.html

Washing Cloth Diapers Helps
http://www.diaperjungle.com/washing-cloth-diapers.html

Free Sewing Patterns
http://www.geocities.com/rew4birth/Diapers.html?200811

Recycled Wool Covers
http://www.sweetandviciousdesigns.com/miala3inonedirections.html

Sew your own Prefolds
http://diaperfabric.com/sew-a-prefold-diaper-the-real-way/

Sewing Cloth Diapers
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/clothdiapers.htm

Links to Free Patterns
http://www.thenappynetwork.org.nz/diy.php

Detergent Choices

http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

How to cloth diaper for free (yes, you can)

http://webpages.charter.net/rhamley/diapers/diapertext1.htm

 Blessings,

Hope

Have you ever heard of the Great Cloth Diapre Hunt?  It is a contest sponsered by Diaper Decisions (http://www.diaperdecisions.com/)  to help promote Work at Home Moms and their companies....and they offer great prizes.  You can read all about it here: http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/greatclothdiaperhunt.php

Like I said, they offfer prizes.....daily prizes, grand prize, first prize, second prize...and more.  All you have to do is register, then visit the sponsor's sites and find their icon.

Finding the hidden icons can be a challenge, but who doesn't like a challenge.  And, there are all these great sites out there you get to explore while looking.  A list of prizes can be found here: http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/clothdiaperhuntprizes.php

So far, I have found 27 Diaper Hunt Icons...only 37 to go!  The contest goes on for the whole month of May, so there is still plenty of time to get going.

Blessings,

Hope

A few months ago, I began sewing and using cloth diapers.  So far, I think I've spent under $400 for supplies, but keep in mind I have all the things necessary to make the diapers for my one year old and my bun in the oven, and to make the boys pullups.  I don't think $350 for diapers for 2 kids until potty trained is unreasonable. I could have spent much less money, but I wanted to try some exotic fabrics, like hemp, bamboo, and Merino wool.  I am settling down into what I think will remain my mainstay of cloth diapers - prefolds and PUL covers, maybe wool covers as well.

It is estimated that disposable diapers cost about .17 cents each (depending onthe brand and how many in a package).  So, if my dd goes through 8 diapers a day (may seem like alot, but I can't stand a wet kiddo), that comes to $40 a month. The Good Nights are expensive too.  How does $14.99 for about 26 of them sound?  Multiply that x2 since we have 2 boys in them, and that's over $30 a month.  So, I'm saving us about $70 a month by using cloth diapers and pullups.  I don't see the boys being dry at night anytime soon, and with my dd not even being 1 1/2, it'll probably be another year before she potty trains.  AND, with another baby coming in August, You can up the price we're puttin out on diapers to at least another $40 a month (more b/c newborns need changed more often).  That brings the cost of disposables for my soon to be four kids up to $120 A MONTH.  Can you imagine?

My boys are both bedwetter (nocturnal enuresis to be specific and technical).  They always have been.  We've gone through the whole 'wake them every 2 hours to train them to awaken to pee' thing, and that hasn't worked.  At age 8, the oldest has had ONE dry night, and that was when he was sick and a little dehydrated.  My near 6 year old has a few dry nights here and there.  We were using Good Nights underpants, but even in them they would soak through. 

Either way, I am now making 'underpants'/pullups for my boys.  SO far, they like them.  I have some really cool PUL fabric, with camoflauge prints.  That is awesome, in their mind.  I had bought a pattern, but had to alter it so much it really wasn't very useful to me.  For the boys, I'm actually using Microfiber towels from Sams club and hemp or bamboo.  I am goign to try some new terry cloth towels though.  My concern is that they pee so much at night, I really need something super absorbant. 

I joined (way too many) yahoo diaper groups, and these groups have co-ops on diaper supplies.  It saves alot of money.  If you pruchase PUL (polyurethane laminate) from a webstore (you can't find it locally) it will cost up to $9 a yard.  The coops usually have it for $6ish.  For Prefold diapers, webstores range from $2-$3 each.  Coops wil run you under $2 usually.  Wool can be found at thrift stores for next to nothing, or the Merino I purchased was $16/yd through a co-op while you can find it for nearly $28 at a webstore!  So, it does save to belong to coops.  There are free patterns all over the net, or you can trace your own diapers and use them.  You do need to add shippin gand handling to the cost, but that usually isn't too much.  I bought hemp from a coop momma for $6.50 a yard, and I've seen it for $9 a yard at webstores.

Your momma's of cloth diapering are over.  I rarely ever have leaks, even at night.  Momma used to use vinyl pants over prefold diapers that were pretty thin and I've been told the kids needed changed every 1-2 hours!!!  My darling daughter can go up to 4 hours in a diaper - especially the hemp ones.  this is not my goal, but it is convenient for town trips and outings. 

Hope