Life on the Road

 Are you going to brave it?

Standing in line, in the cold, in the dark, for hours…  Just waiting for the store to open, so you can pick up the Hot Whatzit of 2008 at a great price?

Not me.

I’ve thought long and hard, and I honestly think I can say I have NEVER gone out shopping on “Black Friday” - or the weekend after Thanksgiving as a whole.

In the past, reasons have included, but were not limited to:

• Due to people’s weird and conflicting schedules, we’ve actually celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday a fair number of times.
• We don’t have TV, so have managed to avoid much of the desire for the Hot Whatzit, anyway.
• Over the past few years, we have shifted more and more away from Christmas consumerism, and focusing on fun anf thoughtful gifts a la the Dutch Sinterklaas Daag traditions.

Okay, look - basically, I just don’t like shopping.  I really, really enjoy finding great gifts, and giving them to people I care about (which even includes charity giving)…  But that MALL type SHOPPING thing?  ICK!

The good news for me is that this year it’s easier than ever to get those good sale prices on the things I do want - all while sipping tea in my fuzzy slippers!  Okay, so I don’t have fuzzy slippers, and with two little ones and a teen I rarely get to sip tea, but you know what I mean…

I’m done with gift shopping already (the Feast of St. Nicholas is December 6th!), but we do really need a new printer, you know?

There’s a whole website dedicated to compiling “the big guys’” Black Friday ads.

And here’s a great collection of smaller online merchants’ Black Friday sales and Black Friday coupon codes at My Precious Kid.

And now for something totally different…  You come to my blog never knowing if you’re going to read about hot political debates or poopy diapers.  Just part of the “keep you on your toes” service we offer! 

I have a bunch of people in my house who have trouble finding clothes that fit:

• I am far too tall for most women’s clothing.
• Wolf is also too tall for most average men’s clothing, and also thin (so proportions on larger swizes don’t work out).
• Jewel is very tall for her age, compounded by the fact that we prefer her skirts longer than the current “norm.”  She’s also very thin.  So at age 3 1/2 she correctly wears about a size 4… except that many of her dresses and skirts are size 6 or larger for length.
• R.T. is quite the opposite.  While he is, actually, tall for his age, he is still much rounder, percentile-wise.  Think Gerber baby.  Think rolly poly.  So my 8 month old child is wearing his sister’s recently castoff size 3T pajamas; the arms and legs are far too long, but it just fits acround his torso and thighs.

I was delighted to see a topic get started on ParentHacks recently about how to tighten pants waistbands.  The original poster wanted to do it without sewing, but of course it grew outwards from there.

It seemed worthwhile to collect and review the various suggestions offered.

Good old safety pins, of course, works for a non-permanent and non-sewing fix.  Diaper pins were also mentiond as an even kid-safer alternative. 

It was even suggested that you can draw the belt loops in with all those linking toy rings that are floating around in the toy box!

And hey, what about good old-fashioned suspenders?

A couple of people recommended a commercial product called Dapper Snappers.  These look quite handy if (a) the clothing in question has belt loops, and (b) your child is still in diapers (otherwise a belt is just fine). 

There are also magnetic belts, if easy-off is the issue (again, onyl good for clothes with belt loops)

A couple of people had minimal-sewing type ideas - from iron-on tape to secure the waist tighter, to tacking some elastic right on the inside of the waistband (easily removed later).  An adjustable variation on this was also illustrated by Just Deanna.

Then there were some more sewing involved ideas:

• Whosies has a great tutorial on inserting elastic into the back casing of the pants, with optional buttoning adjustment.
• Organized Mommy’s tutorial is for insterting a drawstring. 

Since I just can’t help inserting a LITTLE controversy:  Another Parent Hacks comment decried the idea of drawstrings in children’s clothing as dangerous.  Wow.  Sweatpants?  Hooded jackets?  Knitted diaper covers?  Baby bunting nightgowns?  I guess I feel the same way about that as I do about a lot of things like bath ring seats:  Yeah, it’s dangerous - IF you’re planning to go watch soap operas and leave your toddler alone…   AHEM.

A lot of the clothes that I need to alter for Miss J have elastic waistbands, so it’s simple to just open up the seam and take a little tuck.  (I always leave the original elastic intact, though, for her later growth, or hand-me-down-ing).

Some things, though, just don’t lend themselves to an easy fix.  A dress that’s too big, for instance, not only has a waist that’s too large, but also a neckline that’s too low.

For the girl clothes, especially, I’m seeing more and more clearly the need to sew from scratch.

Visit Miss Jocelyn’s blog, A Pondering Heart, and you’ll be treated to the thoughts of a mature young Christian woman.

Click the graphic above to go directly to the post with a drawing for a $25 Gift Certificate to Christa Taylor’s modest clothing website.

Please mention that tiffanyblitz referred you when you leave your comment/entry! 

It all started out as a simple transaction at PaperBackSwap. 

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy that site?  We send off the books we’ve read, and get a constant fresh supply coming in - and you even get free credits just for signing up!  (If you check it out, tell ‘em tiffanyblitz sent you)

But anyway, along with the last book I received was an intriguing thing.  Titled “Informal Book Club,” it’s what we used to call a Chain Letter - in a good way.

You remember the deal, right:

• I send a book to the person whose name is first on the list.
• I remove their name, and add my name to the bottom of the list.
• I send the letter and the revised list to six people.
• Before long I have a mailbox full of books!

This is a pretty mild version: You only have to send it to six people (not ten or something), and there are only two names on the “list” (meaning you don’t get the promise of “856 books!” but that you’re more likely to get some before it dies out).

I haven’t committed to it yet…

I think it’s a great idea, and works out to be a good deal no matter how you look at it.

Shipping one book that I no longer want, using Media Mail rates, is cheap and easy.  I’ll get at least some new books from it, and possibly up to 36!  I can read the ones that interst me, and all of them can be swapped for PaperBackSwap credits to get the books I really want.

The letter could just as easily be sent out as an email, saving even the printing and mailing cost and hassle of that part.

But I’m not sure I know six people that would want to participate - at least not well enough to feel right about asking.

Would you like to join the Book-O-Rama?  Just comment or email me (tiffany (at) tiffanyblitz (dot) com) with your email addy, and you’re in! 

Sorting and unpacking revealed a treasure-trove of girl clothes I was saving for the next one…  But since I don’t think *he* will want them, I want to sell or trade them.  After posting to one group and contemplating posting to another, it occured to me that it would be far easier to post the info here and just refer to it from other places.

Soon-to-follow posts will include the gender-neutral and boy clothes R.T. is so speedily outgrowing.

I’ve photo’d them in size groupings, mostly (click thumbnail pics to see a larger view).  I’d love to get rid of whole chunks rather than piece by piece, but will take whatever I can get.  We can negotiate a price, and/or see my “ISO” list at the end.

Obviously, I can give you more details about anything, as needed. 

Thanks!

Cute winter things.  Snowsuit says 6-12 mos.  Reversible jacket has no tags - I want to say 2T?  Cute suede/furry boots (Ugg knock-off).

Newborn:

12 mos.

18 mos.

24 mos./2T

TAKEN:
Pink turtleneck

TAKEN:
Black longsleeved dress
Blue longsleeved dress
Pink w/bows dress

TAKEN:
Sleeveless floral dress (top center)

3T

TAKEN:
All 3 dresses

Shorts overalls with hat, 5; 2 pairs of pants, 6

Girly socks

Shoes - new & like new - I got rid of the ones she actually wore…

In Search Of – Just a random list of things I’d be willing to trade for.  Try me on others! 

• Medium-long or Large Diapers, gender-neutral or boyish (fitteds, wool covers/shorties/etc.)
• Cool diaper bag
• Family cloth?
• Modest swimwear / swimwear fabrics (lycra, Taslan (?), ??)
• Wool for dipes (fresh or recycled)
• Handcrafted gifts/toys/household goods
• Modest apparel – clothing for a tall mama & girl (size 6-ish); papa & son (men’s L) and baby (12 mos. and up)
• Modest apparel – fabric & patterns for the whole family
• Fabric & notions
• Snaps (ployacetyl resin (”plastic”), size 20)
• Crochet supplies ? (we’re just learning)
• Books (kids ages 0, 3, 14; Christian fiction)
• Fun food stuff / kitchen stuff
• Old-school homemaking stuff

One thing I’ve been persuing in my quest to be thrifty is changing our laundry soap.

The first thing I tried was a make-your-own-detergent kit from Soaps Gone Buy, to make this recipe:

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light loads, use 2 tablespoon. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.

Obviously the pre-grated soap and all is more expensive than buying everything totally from scratch, but it seemed like the best compromise for trying it out - and it’s still cheaper than the brand name stuff.

I liked it, especially at first…  But I had the feeling it was just not doing all it could be. 

Did I mention that the water here is disgusting?  It’s very hard, and it’s also nasty well-water with all kinds of yuck in it…

Miss J was still in diapers during the early parts of this quest, and we were having trouble with an amonia smell whenever she wet, as well as varying degrees of diaper rash that looked almost burn-like. 

The consensus of opinion was that this could all be attributed to detergent residue.  Too much detergent, or a “bad” one (for the siutation, at least), so it wasn’t getting rinsed out completely - in spite of a complete extra wash/rinse cycle to re-re-RE-rinse the diapers.

Home-made detergent, as I’d made, is one of the common “good” choices.  Rats.

So I tried ordering some Charlie’s Soap online.  Again, I liked it; again, especially at first.  Over time it seemed to still build up.  And by “over time” here I’m talking about two to four washings, not months or years…

Then I tried Purex, another popular cloth diapering choice.  Same result.

By now I was very frustrated.  I guess that’s not bad, since probably nothing but that level of frustration would have gotten me to shell out for Allen’s Naturally (although it is still supposedly a good value, since you use so little).  And…

It works!

Jewel is out of diapers, so R.T. may just have different chemistry.  But we’ve been using this for over a month now, and I’m still happy.

I also just found another option, though.  Someone from a cloth diapering online community discussed diaper laundry wuth a friend who is a chemist.  She (the chemist) looked at what was out there, then created this recipe:

1 55 oz. box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Mule Team Borax
2 Cups Oxygen Cleaner-She recommends Sun ($5 @ Dollar General)
1/2 cup Simple Green
1/2 cup Calgon Water Softening Powder

Empty all into a bucket and mix together with your hands. Use 1 heaping scoop (1/8 cup) for diapers, 2 scoops for regular laundry. After we’ve used this for a while some have had to increase to 2 scoops for diapers, 3-4 for regular laundry….you will probably have to experiment a bit to see what works best with your water.

I chuckled when in her comments she said “this should work comparably to Allen’s.”  Made me wonder if I shouldn’t just stick with Allen’s…  But someone sent be a baggie full to try, so what the heck. 

I just watched the neatest video on YouTube, and I had to share it.

 No, it’s not the latest music video….  Or stupid pet tricks…  Or …  

 Actually, it was made by a governmental agency in India, with help from UNICEF and the WHO.  I’m a lot of fun at a party, eh? 

It’s really, really amazing how God made us!

My philosophizing about why so few people would imagine that’s possible will have to wait for another day…

Let me start off by saying that my local La Leche League leader is just really cool!  (Check out her website: Kristin Jayd - belly masks, organic produce, photography…).

She recycles old wool sweaters into the most gorgeous diaper covers…  She sells her “booty sweaters” on her Etsy site, Booty Boutique, but check out the one she made for RT (and his Papa, Wolf!):

And furthermore, I also always thought of wool as hot…  maybe that’s just because I’ve typically seen it in sweaters.  :)  Actually, as a breathable natural fiber, it keeps R.T.’s skin much cooler in our tropical weather than the modern “waterproof” fabric diaper stuff we have.

In case you missed it, I am now a huge fan of wool.  I tried raiding our local Goodwill for wool sweaters, to learn the “booty sweater” craft for myself, but I guess in this climate people just don’t have ‘em.

If you happen to be cleaning out your closet, remember us!

Not only transitioning to using them, but making them, too.  I guess I’ve never been one to do anything by half measures, but… whew!

I was lucky enough to be referred to a great online group of diaper seamstresses, so I was able to get a lot of information and a lot of specific questions answered in short order.

As I mentioned in my last diaper post, I got my hands on some fabric and a couple of patterns, so all that was left was to take the plunge.

The first “plunge” involved getting the sewing machine out, cleaning it up, and figuring out how to use it again (it’s been… six years, at least?).  Kudos to Viking, it runs like a champ (although I’m sure somewhere in its little sewing machine brain it’s wishing I would take it in for a maintenance service appointment).

For my first attempt, I used a pattern called the “FattyCakes Diaper”, designed by one of the ladies on the sewing forum, made up as a cover (rather than a “diaper” per se).  I used white PUL (the waterproof stuff) for the outer layer, and purplish suedecloth for a lining.  You can make them with just the waterproof layer, but with Jewel’s sensitive skin I thought that wouldn’t be wise.  This is a sized piece, so it was made for J.

Here’s the result after the bulk of the work is done (no fasteners yet):

And here’s the way it looks in use, over a prefold diaper on a 2.5 year old - who, I might add, was delighted with the idea that Mama had made a special diaper just for her!

Although I had some questions about where to place the fasteners, since it was designed for snaps rather than hook and loop, I have to say that for a first attempt I consider it a big success.

The next plunge was getting the serger unpacked, cleaned up, and ready for use.  This proved trickier, as it was much dirtier, had many more moving parts, and was somewhat the worse for wear.  But this, too, was accomplished.

To practice serging, I cut up a Goodwill shirt from Nick’s outgrown pile  (100% cotton waffle weave), and serged the edges to make cloth wipes - a whole bunch of ‘em:

But now it’s back to diapers.  I’m going to put together an adjustable-sized pocket diaper from the KCK One pattern, which claims it will be usable on both Baby Blessing and Jewel - and of course, therefore, be usable throughout Baby’s diapering career.

Got to keep getting as much sewing done as I can…  Things are going better, but there’s still no telling when Baby will decide to make her appearance! 

Well, today’s the day…  I am going to sew a cloth diaper!

Wolf found my sewing machines, which had been buried with all our stored stuff, and I cleared off my desk to use temporarily as a sewing table. 

I have been accumulating the fabric, patterns, and notions I need from various sources.  I’ve tried to be very frugal about getting the materials together, searching for people selling off their excess, stores with cheap shipping, and so on.  And of course recycling our old t-shirts and towels into the mix takes a big bite out of what the budget would be to buy everything new.

• I have PUL fabric for the waterproof outer layer, which I bought as an assortment of remnants from someone online.
• I have a pattern for an adjustable one-size pocket diaper that will work for the new baby as well as Miss J, as well as a couple other varities of patterns I got free online.  Since it’s a .pdf file and I can just print out more copies as needed, I’m not going to worry about transferring it onto a more durable medium right now (lots of people apparently love using clear vinyl “tablecloth” stuff for that).
• I have polyester thread and ball-point sewing machine needles from WalMart.
• I have the specialized notions from an online vendor (same place I got the pattern) - Fold-Over Elastic and polybraid elastic (for different kinds of diapers), and TouchTape (harder-working type of hook & loop) for the fastener.
• I have a good-sized piece of suedecloth for the inner “wicking” layer of the dipes, purchased at JoAnn’s Fabrics with my 40% Off One Item coupon.
• For absorbant inners, I have the prefold diapers we’re already using, for covers, or “pocket” diapers that get stuffed each use (but are easier to wash and dry!), plus the Goodwill pile to raid for styles that have absorbant layers sewn in.
• And I have the basic basics already in my sewing kit - pins, marking pencil, good scissors (although it seems a wheel cutter is the popular thing for this), stitch ripper (who me?  mistakes??), etc.

All the fabric (and elastic) has been pre-washed and dried.  The sewing machine is threaded.

Now all I have to do is…  Do it!