This is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!!!!
Best Diapers

I know that it’s hard to choose between cloth and disposable. However when people choose cloth, there are alot of options there too.
Here is a brief pros vs cons list that might be able to help you to decide which you want for your family.

Snaps:
Pros:
Never get the ‘dreaded diaper chain’ (diapers sticking to each other)
Always look brand new
You never have to pick lint out of them
They are harder for babies to undo than velcro
The look cleaner and nicer than velcro
They seem to be less bulky
Cons:
They can crack or bend
They can tear the fabric that they are attached to which makes that part of the diaper useless.
They do not have as many sizing options as velcro
If a snap wears out, it is not as easily replaced. However we guaruntee our snaps.

Velcro:
Pros:

    More sizing options than snaps
Seem to be more dad friendly since they feel more like disposables
Flexible
If velcro wears out, easily replace with new velcro
Because the hold is not quite as strong, you never rip the fabric that it’s attached to

    Much quicker to attach to fabric making it a cheaper diaper.

Cons:
Velcro sticks to everything. Even when using laundry tabs, they still tend to work free.

    Lint builds up in the ‘hook’ and you have to clean it or the diaper won’t work
Tends to wear out quicker than snaps
Tends to be a bit more bulky of a diaper
Baby tends to be able to ‘get free’ easier.

As of the last CPSIA Vote, we are safe for another year to sell our handmade products to you! You can read it Here.

In a brief explanation:
The CPSIA wants to protect our children from harmful chemicals and toxins like lead. To do this, they put an act into place that made all businesses who sold ANYTHING related to children 12 and under to test their products. Not as big of an issue with big manufacturers as they can absorb the outrageously high costs, but it was a huge issue with small businesses and home crafters. This law was to go into effect on February 10, 2009. Across the country, Home crafters and small business owners were dubbing this, ‘National Bankruptcy Day’ as they would lose everything and close their business doors. The new revision to the law gives American home crafters and small businesses another year to keep standards high and continue to offer great products without the need for expensive testing.
Thank you to all of our customers who helped support our efforts in writing to our senators and congressmen. We will be keeping updates on the CPSIA on our blog and if there is any breaking news, we will also post it onto our homepage. www.spindletosashes.com.

A few people who want to get into the pattern making business have asked me what programs are good to use. I answer, “Only the Free or Cheap ones!”
With all of today’s technology, it is silly to spend any money on cool programs. Here is a list of programs that I have downloaded on my computer. Most of them are mac compatible as well.

~Graphic Design: ‘GIMP’. I have read that it is more powerful of a program than photoshop. It’s free! I also use this to edit my photos.
~Microsoft office?: Nope! I didn’t want to pay for the convenience of Microsoft office. I use ‘Openoffice’. It’s free!
~Zipping Documents: To Zip a document, I downloaded ‘zipitfree’ it works FAST and is free!
~Photo hosting: I use Photobucket. I pay yearly for this service, but it’s totally worth it! You can also edit photos with this.
~File Uploading: Box.net. Its free if you only have to download 10 mb and under per file. You can share a link per file with anyone!
~FTP: FileZilla. It’s fast and free! You have to know your Host # which stinks, but hey…it’s still awesome!
~Hosting and Domain purchase: Godaddy.com. They are the cheapest and best supported hosting and domain site ever!
~Shopping cart: Zen cart. It’s free and the support for this program rocks. Oscommerce is similar, but the support stinks. Both are free.
~Online advertising: Everywhere I can for free. Swap links, use meta tags in descriptions. use important keywords. I also use ebay as a tool to drive people to my website through articles. Write articles….They really work!
~Blog: Wordpress. It’s free and easy to use with my site!
~Email: Winows Mail
~Internet Browser: Firefox
~Video sharing online: Youtube. It’s fast uploading. Easy to understand and useful for an advertising tool. Totally free.
~Video Editor: Windows Movie Maker. I have been researching to find something a little more powerful…but at the moment, this is free!
Update: Found one! It’s very cool! Free Video Dubbing

~Video Converter (covert avi to flash): I’m still looking for a freebie here….if you know of some, let me know…otherwise, I might end up purchasing one.
I know this doesn’t have to do with business, but my husband and I watch TV shows online for free too. We use Hulu.

So there you have it! I’ll add to this list as I find more cool things.

Update:
~Dvd decrypting: Free DVD Decrypter
~Dvd burning:  Free DVD Video Burner
~Video Converter: The ONLY free one I could find. Some said they were free but they were only ‘trials’ and not the full version. This one does what I want it to: Converts any file to a .FLV file. It’s called ‘Free Video To Flash Converter’. YES! I’m so pumped I found it! It works fast and great! It even gives you an online widget for superior ease!

Have you ever gone through baby clothes and you see “3-6 Months” on one and another you see “13-17 lbs”?
It’s hard to organize clothing this way…especially if you get a bag of it used, or if you are ‘garage sale’in’ for some baby clothes.
Well I have something for you!!!
I was going through baby clothes (used of course!) and I found this a ’size tag’. It shows the Size, Weight, and Height for each size!!!
No more guessing. Post it on your baby’s dresser mirror.

After writing to congressmen and senators, I just received an email today from Senetor Carl Levin. He completely addressed the issue for what it is and he has been taking steps to get the ‘fixing’ project into Washington! YES! Here is the email that he wrote to me: Click Here.

Anyway, if you have no idea what I’m talking about here is a re-cap (taken from my front page):

The Government is trying to protect us from China’s lead and chemicals in our toys. YES!
Unfortunately, the government didn’t protect the small business owner in America.
There are amendments that can be made to protect us and others like us who sell baby items.
Please click the button to the right and spend about 20 minutes to save WAHMS!

How will this effect you?
You will be unable to purchase cloth diapers, baby carriers, wooden toys or anything that is handmade for a child under the age of 12 by a WAHM. You will only be able to buy from ‘big manufacturers’.
For some people, this might only mean spending a couple extra dollars - however, it also means that more and more people in our country will be without $$$ as their livelihood will be taken away which will keep our economy plummeting.

So do you want to start cloth diapering, but just can’t afford it?

Fleece makes an excellent cover for daytime at home. 
Unless my baby was an infant with PLEEEEEENTY of soakers, I wouldn’t venture out of the house though.
You will find that you love using fleece with your babies as it is so much more breathable than waterproof fabric, yet it holds wetness inside the diaper!  The only reason it would leak is if there was tight clothing or something like a seat-belt tight up against it.

Make your own diaper covers.
You don’t have to sew a thing.
This is a one size fits all diaper cover.

This is what the finished product will look like (mine is serged, but yours does not have to be)

Supplies:
20″x20″ piece of Fleece (any type of fleece will work…the heavier the better)

The Back is 20″ accross
The wings are 8″ deep
The length from front to back is 20″
The crotch is 8″ wide

And that’s it! You can use a “Snappi”tm closure with this or pins.

There are a billion ways that you can fold this so that it fits your baby better.
It’s a one size fits all, so you’ll want to experiment.

My favorite way to use it is to simply put it on and tuck the front until it fits.

You could also roll down the back until it’s the desired length that you need it to be:

Just experiment with the folding options! It’s a great and cheap way to get started cloth diapering!

UPDATE:
I took pictures! Both of these are with the same Diaper cover that’s shown above:
Here is a pic of my 28 pounder:

And here is a pic of my 13 pounder:

Here’s a great site to figure out how much individual energy suckers are costing you: Energy help. Seriously…check it out! I could have spent hours just playing with their calculators!

After my last consumers bill of $490 I’m determined to figure out how to save! We try very hard not to be wasteful and after looking on the consumers energy website, I found a few things. Here are ways to save on your electric bill. There are alot of more ways Here:

• Turn down the heat. You’ll typically
save 1 percent to 3 percent on your
heating costs for every degree you
dial down

• Set your thermostat at 68 degrees
when you’re home and at 65 degrees
when you’re away for a short time.

• Lower your thermostat to 58 degrees
if you’re away from home five hours
or more. You use much less energy
to heat the house up when you return
than to keep it heated while you’re
away

• Take a shower instead of a bath.
You’ll use less hot water
• Install a low-flow aerator or flow
restrictor on an existing shower head,
and you’ll use less water when it
seems like more! Both are inexpensive
and easy to install—just screw
them in

• Set your water heater temperature at
120 degrees. A family of four, each
showering for five minutes, uses
about 700 gallons of water a week.
By lowering the thermostat, you can
cut water heating bills without sacrificing
comfort
• Save even more by setting your water
heater to “on vacation” (if your unit
has this feature) when you’re away
from home more than two days
• Turn off hot water when you don’t
need it. Don’t let it run when you
wash or shave
• Fix defective plumbing or dripping
faucets. A single dripping hot water
faucet can waste 212 gallons of
water a month. That can increase
your water bill and your energy bill
• Keep your hot water hot by making
sure pipes in unheated areas are
insulated
• Put an insulating blanket around your
water heater. It holds heat in
• Always use cold water when it will
do the job as well as hot

• Turn off the dishwasher after the
wash and rinse cycles. When dishes
air dry, you’ll save on heating costs.

• Preheat the oven only when the recipe
calls for it. Don’t preheat if you’re
using the broiler
• Use glass and ceramic dishes. They
hold heat better and you can lower the
oven temperature 25 degrees
• Your stove or oven may not always
be the best choice! Small appliances,
such as crockpots and electric frying
pans, and your microwave oven may
be more energy efficient
• Open the oven door to peek at food
inside, and you’ll lose 25 degrees to
75 degrees of heat. It’s best to look

through the window or wait until the
food is almost done before opening
the door
• Save energy by baking an extra dish
or cooking entire meals in the oven at
the same time

• Wash and rinse your clothes in cold
water instead of hot to save on water
heating costs. Use a cold-water
detergent
• Set the water level on your washer to
match the size of the load and save two
ways—on water and energy
• You’ll save more by waiting to wash
until you have a full load
• Add the right amount of detergent.
Too many suds make your washer work
harder and use more energy

• Fill your clothes dryer, but don’t
overload it. Your clothes will dry
faster when they have room to tumble
• Overdrying wears out your clothes
and wastes energy. Stop your dryer
when the laundry is dry by
setting the timer or using the auto
dry cycle

Dry your laundry in consecutive loads
to take advantage of a heated dryer.
Your laundry will dry faster and use
less energy
• On sunny days, hang your clothes
outdoors to dry

• Avoid opening the refrigerator or
freezer door to browse. Each time you
do, cold air escapes and your energy
costs increase
• Let hot foods cool before putting
them in your refrigerator or freezer.
Hot foods cause the motor to work
longer and harder
• Leave room in front of your refrigerator/
freezer to allow cold air to circulate
better•

Because frozen food stays cold longer
than air, it’s good to keep your freezer
full, but not packed. You’ll save energy

• Set the refrigerator thermometer at
38 degrees to 42 degrees and your
freezer at 0 degrees to 5 degrees

• Unplug electronics when not in use.
Computers, VCRs, televisions and
other electronics use energy when
they’re plugged in—even though
they’re turned off

• Drapes can cut heat loss in half if
they have an insulating liner

• On cool days, let the sun shine in by
opening curtains, drapes, shades,
shutters and blinds on the southern
and eastern windows. Close them on
cloudy days and at night to keep heat
from escaping
• Close drapes on north-facing windows
to keep the chill out in winter
• On hot summer days, open windows
and doors in early morning and in the
evening to let cool air in

• Add extra insulation to floors by
covering them with a pad and rug
• Prevent heat loss as warm air travels
through heat ducts from your furnace
by wrapping heat ducts with insulation.
Also, use duct foil tape where
rectangular heat ducts join, and waterbase
acrylic latex caulk where round
and rectangular duct fittings meet

• Install the water heater close to the
point of use. Water stays hotter when
it’s piped a short distance. In large
homes, two water heaters may be
more efficient than one

Here’s another clarification update on the Cpsia and how it will effect people. Thank goodness they are finally starting to clarify some things.

Thrift Stores: The clothes are officially not going into landfills! As it says here: Cpsia Clarification: It doesn’t seem to effect the thrift stores at all. It ’sort of’ does in the sense that they can’t sell products that have been recalled anymore. Which for some people who collect vintage items might be ticked off about, but they’ll just have to deal with it.

CPSIA update on books. For all of you who thought that there was going to be a book burning at the library: They will not be destroying books. Books have been removed from the ‘toxic’ list. This is for ‘ordinary’ books such as those printed on paper or cardboard that have a cover. This does not include bath books or ‘toy’ books. Anything not classified as an ‘ordinary’ book will be subject to lead testing. ‘Subject’ means that it has to be done…if it’s not than you could face serious fines and prison time as a manufacturer.

I have a very heavy wetter. I have had nothing but trouble finding a good solution for night time diapers for him. I love using my one size fits all diapers for him, but if he sleeps in or goes to bed early, I sometimes have a leak through.

I’ve been experimenting with different options and I’m finding that I simply LOVE using my new ‘Night Time Diaper Covers’. They have fleece on the outside and PUL on the inside. The PUL is waterproof and the Fleece moisture wicking….this diaper cover is practically leak free. Using it with a microfiber insert at night….yup…no leaks!

Let me talk a minute about fleece: Fleece is like the ‘morphing’ fabric. If you need it to keep you warm, it does that. If you need it to keep your skin dry, (moisture wicking) it does that….AND if you need it to help waterproof things, IT DOES THAT!

How it works with the ‘Night Time Diaper Covers’: 
Since the PUL is ‘laminate’ side toward the baby’s skin, it has to dispurse the fluid of the diaper/soaker somewhere. If the diaper/soaker is full then you would typically leak through the legs. However, when the fleece is on the outside of the cover, it sucks up the fluid and holds it inbetween the fleece and the PUL. Talk about awesome!

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