Cloth Diapering TV Segment!

A couple of months ago, I had the amazing opportunity to tape several segments for our local tv station.  We covered a variety of eco-friendly topics and the clips have aired about twice a month.  When I initially contacted the station it was to share cloth diapers and I am pleased to say that the first cloth diaper clip has aired!

If you are new to our site and want more information on cloth diapers, please visit our Cloth Diaper FAQ, it covers pretty much anything you could want to know.  If you still have questions, please feel free to email me.

Cloth Pads (free patterns!)

Yesterday I was talking to a friend that was looking for a good cloth pad pattern.  I offered to help, and because I am frugal - I like free.  So I was browsing the internet yesterday for free patterns to make cloth pads.  There are some great patterns out there, but I wasn't finding quite what I was looking for.  I decided to grab ideas from a few patterns and product examples to make my friend a pattern more like what I was looking for.

I woke up yesterday with a headache, so I was just begging for some distraction.  I ended up sewing seventeen pads and making two new patterns.  I thought perhaps some of you might be interested in using it as well, so I've uploaded them in PDF form for easy printing.  The patterns include seam allowance, just cut and sew!  I added extra stitching on the pads to keep the fabric from bunching.  Not sure if this is needed, but I also liked the way it looks.

I used flannel for the tops and fleece for the backings because it's what I had on hand.  You can use PUL or wool backing if you prefer and higher end fabrics like bamboo or hemp for the tops.  If you need a thicker pad, use more layers.  If you just want liners, use less.

Regular Day Pad / Liner Pattern

Heavy/Nighttime Pad Pattern

I hope you get some use of these!  If you use the pattern, I'd love to see pictures!

5 Easy Steps

If you've been around here long you've heard me talk about Healthy Child Healthy World. They are a fantastic organization that works to create safe and healthy environments for children.  In April, I won 4th place in Marcal Small Step's Small Steps for Big Change Environmental Awards.  I was given the chance to choose an environmental charity to donate $500 to in my name.  I chose Healthy Child because of he changes that they are helping to make that benefit all of us, and the youth to come.

Healthy Child has a wonderful list of 5 Easy Steps to help you create a healthy home environment.  They were inspired by the contest and asked me to write a post for them about my own five steps.  They are a great organization and I feel very blessed to have this platform to share more.  I think that much of the thanks goes to all of you as well, for coming here, reading my blog, interacting with my posts and inspiring me to learn more and reach out to further to share it.

It was hard to pick just five steps, there are so many!  You can read my full article here.

Some additional tips:

6. Avoid chemical cleaners.
Thankfully there are some great companies out there making safe cleaners, but you can save yourself a load of cash (and time searching for products) by using homemade cleaners.

• Use vinegar and water for a basic all purpose cleaner (equal parts).  Want an extra boost?  Add a drop of dish soap the the bottle and some tea tree oil for extra disinfecting properties.
• If you'd like to skip residues all together try the Activeion Ionator HOM, I adore mine!
• Skip all of the junk in traditional laundry detergents by making your own.  Try our recipe, you can make this even more gently by using a castile bar soap, or none at all if you choose.
• If you want to buy cleaners and detergents choose safe products like those from Seventh Generation, Earth Friendly Products, Eco-Me, etc.
• Skip fabric softerers and choose a safe option like dryer balls or vinegar.

7. Compost!

You would be surprised how much of your daily waste can be composted.  If your community has a compost area, you can use that or get your own bin.  They take up very little room, and one is really enough!  We have two, and really only needed one.

• Read more about composting, plus a printable PDF list of what to put in your compost bin.

8. Keep toys safe.

There are so many toys on the market these days and it seems like most are plastic.  We all know that plastic is bad for the environment, so when you buy toys, try to choose products made from wood, cloth, metal or recycled materials.  Choosing products that can be passed down or recycled is a good way to go.

• There are loads of great toys available these days from companies like Plan Toys, Haba, Green Toys and even store brands from companies like Toys R Us.
• Some of my favorite shops are Moolka.com, Oompa.com, and of course Amazon.com (search for "eco-friend toys" or "green toys")

I would love to hear what some of your favorite tips are.  What things do you do that you feel make an impact on your life, or which ones do you just enjoy or feel good about doing?

Strawberries!!!

We have several pick-your-own strawberry farms in our area.  I've never made it out to one, but a friend invited me and I went for the first time.  It was SO much fun!  I took L with me and she just loved it.  It was fun being outside, picking fruit, being active and having good conversations with my friend.

I had originally planned to pick two buckets full - enough for our house an to take to E's school for our snack day.  After I filled two buckets I was having too much fun, so we decided to pick two more!  My friend had reminded me that I could freeze these and use them for smoothies later.  I was sold!

That brings me to what I would like to share with you today - freezing strawberries, and a smoothie recipe.  Freezing strawberries is easy and well worth the little time it takes.  I've put together a video showing step by step, but here's the general idea:

• Sort your strawberries (keeping out the ones you want to eat fresh).
• Take the greens of of your freezer berries.
• Wash under low running water.  I used room-temp water and used my fingers to gently wipe away dirt.
• Put the washed strawberries into a colander to drain.
• Pour them out onto a dish towel to help dry them more.  When ice forms on frozen foods it can alter the texture of them.
• Line the strawberries on a cookie sheet - not touching.
• Move to the freezer and let sit for about 24 hours.
• Once frozen solid, move your strawberries to a freezer safe container.
• Pull them out one-by-one as needed and enjoy in smoothies, on cereal, pancakes, in pies or on their own!

And as promised, this is the smoothie recipe that I've been enjoying.  It serves two and you could easily swap the banana out for any other fruit/s that you enjoy.  I think I'm going to try some mango next!

Strawberry Smoothie

• 10 frozen strawberries
• 1 organic banana cut up
• 8 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup organic greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup organic milk
• 1 tbs. organic sugar
• 2 tbs vanilla extract

Using a food processor (or blender), chop up the ice and frozen strawberries first. Toss in the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth, or to the desired texture.  I like mine fine to be able to use a straw.

If you like a sweeter smoothie you could use vanilla, or other flavored yogurts in place of the greek yogurt.

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe, with our without strawberries?  I'd love to try it!  Share your recipes and tips in the comments section below.

Good-bye Weeds & Grass

Yikes!  Yes, I'm killing weeds and grass... well in certain areas.  We have a fairly long gravel driveway and each summer grass and other pesky weeds like to make the center of it their home.  It's not so pretty.  We don't like using harsh chemicals, and in the past, I found that they weren't even always that effective, so why bother?!

The solution (as it seems to be with many simple & thrifty ways of doing things) is vinegar!  Plain old white vinegar.  I pulled out our garden sprayer and stocked up with 4 gallons of cheap store brand vinegar (about $2 a jug).  If you don't have a sprayer you can pick up a 1 gallon or 2 gallon fairly cheap on Amazon.com.  Mine happens to be the 2 gallon size.

Get out your sprayer, pour a gallon of vinegar in, pump and get to spraying.  I chose to do this on two dry, hot days.  The grass was sure to be thirsty, so it seemed to make sense and would hopefully work fast (it did!)

Be sure to spray only where you want to kill the grass, the vinegar will kill everything you spray.  At the edges of your driveway be sure to spray in a straight line, unless you like zig-zagged edges.  You can see in the photo below where I sprayed just earlier today.  The grass is already dying off and the edge is pretty clean.

The photo below is of the spraying I did yesterday and you can see clearly where I stopped.  The vinegar worked great and quite quickly.  I'm happy to be cleaning up our driveway naturally with a simply product.  It cost me about $8 in vinegar (we already had a sprayer).  If you buy a sprayer, it can be used again and again.  We've used ours for all sorts of projects around the house!