The value of HANDMADE!

There have been a lot of recent documentaries on TV about where our food comes from, how our clothing is made, fair trade, and other topics that should hit us close to home. Do we (as consumers) really think about HOW we get product "x" into our homes? How much transit costs there are? The value of the work that went into making it? The quality of goods we are receiving? Do we value what we get for the price we pay?

In general, consumers buy what they feel is valuable to them - $4 for a cup of coffee a day (hopefully in a reusable coffee mug!) versus brewing some at home. $1.99 for meat on sale versus the $5 organic variety. $4 t-shirts from a volume chain store versus $40 for a name brand T-shirt.

As a team of  women working at home producing high quality handmade items, we wanted to bring focus on what the VALUE of handmade means to us - and to you! Some of us are full time moms, making diapering products as a hobby. Some of us work full time, and do this on the side. Some of us do this as a full-time job, with the intent to bring home a living wage. Regardless of the reason we do it, we try to set a price that is fair to ourselves for the amount of time we invest in relation to the price the market will allow. (Photo Above: Mary Beth of E-A-Poo's)

We know you love handmade products - or you wouldn't be here! What does handmade mean to you?

Perhaps:
- You love buying something unique and one of a kind
- You love supporting mothers like yourself
- You love knowing where your product came from
- You love the quality that goes into something made from the heart
(Photo Right: Sarah of Boulevard Designs/Wallypop)

As a work at home mom (WAHM), there is a delicate balancing act that happens every day between our customers and our family. Besides actual sewing, many things go into handmade items, including:  design, photos, marketing, emails, bookkeeping, and taxes. Whew! (Keep your eyes peeled for a future blog post elaborating on what goes into making diapers/covers/accessories. Also look for more work space photos from team members!).

Every day is earth day!

Be sure to check out our participating shops for other Earth Day items:
Banana Bottoms
I Dream in Green
Liberty's Belle
Lil Bees
Little Muffin Bottoms
Tree Bottom Wool
Winkydinks

Stay tuned for a new theme for May "Planting and Gardening". More cute fluff to come :)

Fluff-a-Rump winner of a Banana Bottoms fitted diaper...

 This week's winner of the Fluff-a-Rump giveaway (for a fitted diaper) from Banana Bottoms is entry #22:

Megan said... 22

Follow Banana Bottoms on Facebook http://scr.im/elm13

Congratulations!  Kristen will be contacting you, or you can contact her via her shop. Thank you to everyone who entered. Don't forget to check back and enter next week's giveaway (5/5)!

Cloth Diaper Awareness Week!

The Etsy Cloth Diaper Team wants to spread the cloth diapering love! In honor of Earth Day this week, what a better time to promote our environmentally conscious choices, including cloth diapering.

How you can help:
- Post a blurb on your blog about cloth diapering and/or our team

- Change your Facebook status to something promoting cloth diapering and update your profile picture with a cloth diapered baby! Some examples:

• ...is celebrating Cloth Diaper Awareness week (in Honor of Earth Day 4/22). Post a photo of your favorite cloth diaper (on or off a baby) and spread the love!

• ..Earth Day every day! Choose to cloth diaper If you cloth diaper, set your profile pic to a favorite fluffy photo, and copy and paste this in your status. Spread the fluffy bum love! 

We'd love to keep the word going - let us know of other ideas of how to promote cloth diapering!

Pocket Diapers

Pocket diapers are one of the greatest inventions ever. You get the ease and fit of an all-in-one(AIO) diaper with the drying time of a prefold. A traditional pocket diaper basically consists of an outer layer of waterproof fabric with an inner lining of absorbent or moisture wicking material that goes against your baby’s skin. The pocket is sewn in and can be in the front or the back, inside or outside of the diaper. You then stuff them with an absorbent “soaker”, insert or a prefold. This allows you to adjust absorbency as needed and still have a smooth inner lining against your baby. Pocket diapers are available in sized and one-size variations and recently I have seen some regular fitted diapers with pockets in them. They can have snaps, “velcro” or a combination of the two.
These are a great option if you need to leave your baby with a sitter or family member who is not familiar with cloth diapering. You can pre-stuff them and they go on just like a disposable. When the diaper is soiled you just pull out the insert and wash using your normal diaper wash routine.
Pocket diapers are generally less expensive than an AIO and more expensive than prefolds or fitted diapers. With that said if your entire stash was made up of pocket diapers, they still are about half the cost of buying disposables.

To see all of the great pocket diapers that our Cloth diaper team members have made click here

Green Mama Benefit Auction - featuring a Dadgear satchel from Kanga Care

I was a sucker for great bags when I carried around lots of diapering stuff. I wish I would have had one of these! And the proceeds from this one go to a great cause (The Cloth Diaper Foundation - formerly Miracle Diapers)
Up for auction starting 4/22:


Features include:


• Quick access wipes window and refillable wipes case make grabbing wipes a breeze.
• Large interior pocket for diapers or food.
• Large zippered interior pocket for storing larger items.
• Three pockets under front flap for secure storage and other items.
• Two neoprene exterior side pockets for bottles.
• Stroller straps attach to any style stroller and store in their own pockets.
• Changing pad included in its own pocket to eliminate cross contamination.
• Light-colored interior helps you see everything inside.





Please come check out the Green Mama Benefit Auction benefiting The Cloth Diaper Foundation. There are TONS of great items up for bid! (Including items from members of the Etsy Cloth Diaper team: a repurposed wool soaker from Winkydinks, and a custom shortie from Catchick 6 Creations!)

Happy Earth Day!

Be sure to check out our participating shops for other Earth Day items:
Banana Bottoms
I Dream in Green
Liberty's Belle
Lil Bees
Little Muffin Bottoms
Tree Bottom Wool
Winky Dinks

Banana Bottoms - Fluff-a-Rump featured member and giveaway

Shop link: www.bananabottoms.etsy.com
Blog link: www.bananabottoms.blogspot.com
Twitter link: www.twitter.com/bananabottoms
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/bananabottoms

Getting to know Banana Bottoms:

What got you started in selling items in your Etsy shop?  
     I have been sewing diapers since my oldest was born (12 years ago!) and my mom suggested I should start selling them.  Etsy was a great starting place because it is so user-friendly.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone would have told you when you started cloth diapering?  
     Use wool and fleece for covers!
What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not sewing/working for your shop? 
     Anything outdoors... I also love to read and will stay up all night to finish a great book!
What is your current favorite item in your shop, and why?  
     I love sewing newborn fluff ~ they are so cute and tiny ~ and I love, love, love this print!
What is your favorite material to work with? 
     I love all bamboo fabrics!
How long has your shop been open?  
     My shop has been open for over 2 years but started off really slowly...  As my kids have gotten older it’s been easier to be an active seller :)
Personal bio: 
     I have 4 kids (ranging in age from 2-12) and currently live in Halifax, NS.  I love the East Coast but would like to move around a little more, maybe north?  I love to be creative and would like to one day branch out from just cloth diapers.  I would also love to be a better knitter (I can only knit socks), write a book, design clothes, and finish my education degree!  I love to travel and dream of backpacking around the world, you know, when I have a spare year or two.

Fluff-a-Rump Giveaway details!

(Drawing to be held April 28th, 9pm PDT)  

This week, Kristen from Banana Bottoms is offering one winner a fitted cloth diaper in their choice of size (nb, sm, md or lg) and print (boy or girl ~ no gender neutral) Prints shown are examples only. Retail value $15-$24.95. Open to all countries. 
 
 

Required entry:
-Visit Banana Bottoms shop; come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item.

Additional optional entries (leave a separate comment for EACH of the following that apply) (be sure that you are signed in or leave a way to contact you in each comment):  
- Follow Banana Bottoms on Facebook  
- Follow Banana Bottom's blog publicly 
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team blog publicly
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Facebook
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Twitter
- Tweet about the fluff-a-rump giveaways (limit one per day)  - be sure to use @etsyclothdiaper and @bananabottoms in your tweet

A random blog comment number will be selected using random.org. The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. You MUST comment on this blog post to be entered, and have contact info in your profile. Each entry entry must be its own comment. If you combine entries into one comment, it will only count as one entry. Winning entries will be validated, and you MUST do the required entry to have any additional entries be valid. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Thank you for entering!


Check back in 2 weeks for another Fluff-a-Rump on Hump Day featured Etsy shop and Giveaway! 

I Dream In Green Giveaway!

When I joined this awesome team, the Wednesday giveaway spots were already full through September! So I decided to go ahead with a review/giveaway on another blog. Just wanted any Etsy Cloth Diaper fans here to know about it too!

It went up today here: http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/

So head on over if you'd like to enter to win a $20 gift certificate, good for one year for anything in my shop. Entries accepted through May 7, and feel free to spread the word :)

xo, Elizabeth

I Dream In Green

Earth Day is almost here...

and what better way to celebrate than with some new fluff! Our theme this month is Earth Day and all of our cloth diapers and covers feature something to celebrate our earth. Whether it's all organics, endangered animals, oceans, mountains or trees, there's something for every little one.









Be sure to check out our participating shops for other Earth Day items:
Banana Bottoms
I Dream in Green
Liberty's Belle
Lil Bees
Little Muffin Bottoms
Tree Bottom Wool
Winky Dinks

Winner of the Twig and Vine giveaway

 This week's winner of the Fluff-a-Rump giveaway (for either a small sherpa fitted diaper OR a set of organic cotton/bamboo nursing pads) from Twig and Vine is entry #67:


Aurelie said... 67 follow the blog.

Congratulations!  Amy will be contacting you, or you can contact her via her shop. Thank you to everyone who entered. Don't forget to check back and enter next week's giveaway (4/21), from Banana Bottoms!

Cloth Training Pants

submitted by Katy of LittleMuffinBottoms

As a mother of four (three of which are successfully potty trained) I have probably tried almost every type of training pant there is out there. The conclusions I’ve come to are thus:
1. Disposable training pants/”pull-ups” are just like disposable diapers. They are super absorbent, full of chemicals and no matter what the manufacturers say they still look like diapers.
2. You want your baby to be able to feel the fact that they are wet so that they can recognize it and use the “potty” the next time. I won’t even address what the manufacturers of disposables are putting into the training pants for this (“cool feel” and “color changing” chemicals) as I believe this was thoroughly gone over in a previous post.
3. Cloth training pants can be very absorbent to a little more absorbent than regular underwear.
4. Comfort. I mean come on cloth is cloth and disposables are well, paper. What would you rather wear?
5. The cost. Compare about $50-60 for 5-6 pairs of cloth trainers that you will buy once to disposables which you are going to be purchasing weekly for who knows how long.
6. Variety. Like cloth diapers/nappys, there is a large variety of cloth training pants as well. They can look like a diaper or just like underwear. They can be waterproof or not, have side snaps or pull up like true underpants. There is an endless array of fabrics that are used. You can even have them “custom” made to fit your needs.

To see what is available from the Etsy cloth diaper team go to the word “training pants” on the left hand side of this blog under “Find Products” or you can click here.

Look what the team has on SALE!

Everyone loves to get something on SALE! Check out the items that the Etsy Cloth Diaper Team sellers currently have marked down. (Note: you can always find the current sale items by clicking on the Items on SALE link on the left side of the blog).

Earth Day theme

With earth day just around the corner, the cloth diaper sewers have been busy making something for every little tree hugger out there.

Twig and Vine: Fluff-a-Rump featured member and giveaway

Shop link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwigandVine
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Twig-and-Vine-Cloth-Diapers/63756576560

Getting to know Twig and Vine:

What got you started in selling items in your Etsy shop? I love the Etsy community! I would buy handmade items for gifts, etc. on Etsy and I thought "Why not?". :)
What is one piece of advice you wish someone would have told you when you started cloth diapering? The smell
What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not sewing/working for your shop? Crochet or read.
What is your current favorite item in your shop, and why? My wool wraps because they are cute, simple and breathable! 
What is your favorite material to work with? Wool or hemp
How long has your shop been open? 2 years this March, YAY!
Personal bio: I am a mother to 2 boys, Elliot (5) and Ira (2). I started Twig & Vine in March of 2008 and feel very lucky to have a full time job from home! I have a part-time job as well and if you ask me how I do it, I don't know!
I've always had a lot of nervous energy. I discovered working with my hands (sewing, crocheting, etc.) was not only a creative outlet but also a necessary one! I find it very cathartic. My biggest fear is getting arthritis in my hands when I get older. LOL OK, well maybe not my BIGGEST fear but it's definitely up there. Mostly, I just try to enjoy my life as it comes and live simply. :)

Fluff-a-Rump Giveaway details! (Giveaway closed)

(Drawing to be held April 14th, 9pm PDT)  
Open to USA and Canada

 








This week, Amy from Twig and Vine is offering one winner their choice between a size SMALL sherpa fitted diaper OR a set of organic cotton/bamboo nursing pads! The sherpa is made of 82% cotton 8% polyester and has a triple layered quick dry soaker.

Required entry:
-Visit Twig and Vine's website; come back here and leave a comment with something you learned or found interesting.

Additional optional entries (leave a separate comment for EACH of the following that apply) (be sure that you are signed in or leave a way to contact you in each comment):  
- Mark Twig and Vine's shop as an Etsy favorite
- Follow Twig and Vine on Facebook 
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team blog publicly
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Facebook
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Twitter
- Tweet about the fluff-a-rump giveaways (limit one per day)  - be sure to use @etsyclothdiaper in your tweet

A random blog comment number will be selected using random.org. The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. You MUST comment on this blog post to be entered, and have contact info in your profile. Each entry entry must be its own comment. If you combine entries into one comment, it will only count as one entry. Winning entries will be validated, and you MUST do the required entry to have any additional entries be valid. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Thank you for entering!


Check back in 2 weeks for another Fluff-a-Rump on Hump Day featured Etsy shop and Giveaway!