The End of the Third Annual Flats and Hand Washing Challenge

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

Unfortunately I didn't make it to the end of this year's challenge. I completed 5 days. Last year I finished the challenge and continued to hand wash for an additional 2 weeks and continued using flats for another 2 months. I know that I could do it if I had to but fortunately I don't have to.
This challenge has made me seriously consider getting rid of a lot of my stash and sticking to flats if there is ever a baby #2 in my life.
Congratulations to everyone that did complete the challenge. It isn't an easy task.
And now without further ado. The winner of the wool longies is.....
Mommytoreanne!

I also have this crocheted soaker up for sale in my Etsy shop.

Day 5 of the Third Annual Flats and Hand Washing Challenge

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

After 5 days on this challenge the lessons that I have learned are...
Keeping a regular washing routine is crucial!
Stick to folds you know or be ready for some messy clean-up.
Take it one day at a time.
Second time around is not as fun as the first.


My go to fold from last year. Tutorial here.

This year I am struggling more with the challenge. I am dreading having to wash the diapers today. I am avoiding that job like the plague. But it must be done.
This year I stuck to pad folds. That's it. I know BORING. But I just can't get fancy with the folds when I have a boy that won't stop. Not even for 2 seconds. Last year I was more adventurous with the folds and learned the hard way that the origami fold was not for us.
This year I just am not as motivated as I was last year. Maybe since I already completed the challenge and know I can do it and proved to myself that I have done it. I don't know but I just don't have the same gusto as I did last year. But I am no quitter! I will finish!
Don't forget I am giving away a new pair of homemade wool longies size large- x large. To enter please leave a comment. The winner will be announced Monday.

Day 4 of the Third Annual Flats and Hand Washing Challenge

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

This week is flying by. I am half way through this challenge and actually think I may make it to the end. If you had asked me this morning you would have gotten a totally different answer. I was set on quitting this morning. I hadn't gotten to wash yesterday and was faced with a large pile of poopy diapers this morning. My son had a record of 4 poopy diapers in a 24 hour period. We recently switched to raw milk which I think might be causing the increase in poop.
My saving grace I suppose was that the internet wasn't working so I had nothing better to do than wash those darn diapers. LOL.

This is a picture from last year's challenge. My camera is on the fritz :(

I am still not sure if we will make it to the end of the day. I have one dry diaper left and some jersey fabric if I am desperate. I thought I had 16 diapers...turns out I only have 10!
This year I have been washing in the bathtub instead of a 5 gallon bucket like I did last year. I fill the tub enough that the diapers can move freely in the water. Then I add my soap. I have been using dawn just because I keep forgetting to go down into the basement to get my homemade laundry soap. Then the fun part begins. The stomping! I get in the tub and walk all over the diapers squishing out every last bit of dirt. I totally feel as if I should be chanting "crush the grapes" while doing this. BB likes to get in there and help during the rinse cycle. I have found this method more efficient then using my hands. It even is a great way to wring the diapers out.  

Don't forget I am giving away a new pair of homemade wool longies size large- x large. To enter please leave a comment. The winner will be announced Monday.

Here is my post on hand washing from last year's challenge.

Day 3 of the Third Annual Flats and Hand Washing Challenge...Why does it Matter?

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

I know a lot of people are wondering why did over 400 people from around the world chose to hand wash their flat diapers. What is the big deal? Why does it matter any way? Can't these moms just buy disposable diapers?
Well yes most of us probably can afford regular ol' sposies. Yes most of us probably do have access to a washing machine and dryer. But there are so many people that do not.
The reason why this challenge is so important for many of us... especially me is that it is making me more prepared to help someone that can not help themselves. I now have first hand experience and can tell someone that is struggling to provide for their family that it is possible to keep their children happy, healthy and clean for under $100 dollars! It is possible and I can show you how it is done.
Diapers are not covered by wic or foodstamps. For a family that can not even afford food for their family they need to some how afford diapers. Disposable diapers can add up to several thousand dollars over the course of a child's diapering days. Parents sometimes reuse disposable diapers out of desperation. Flats are definitely the better option.
I have seen this first hand. I spent 2 months in a rural village in Turkey when I first got married. One of my husband's relatives placed some extra tissues in an already used diaper so she could use it again. If this same situation were to arise now I could help her. I could introduce her to the magic of flats.
Helping by doing. We can not expect to help anyone if we have never done it ourselves. How can we promote that flats and hand washing is a viable option if we haven't ever even used a flat or hand washed anything? We can't and that is why it does matter.
Last year when I was in Turkey I used flats for a whole month. I hung them out on the line. I got so many questions from neighbors about my diapers. Be the example for change.

Don't forget I am giving away a new pair of homemade wool longies size large- x large. To enter please leave a comment. The winner will be announced Monday.

Day 2 of the Third Annual Flats and Hand Washing Challenge

 

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

Today's topic is: How did I prepare for the challenge?
Fortunately I had everything I needed already. After last year's challenge I invested in some extra flour sack towels from Target to use when we travel. Last July we went to Turkey for a month and I used flats exclusively during that time. The flour sack/ tea towels were almost $5.00 for a 4 pack. I have 2 packs. Seeing how cheap and effective these flats are is really making me regret buying expensive prefolds and pockets.
I also have 6 birdseye flats that I got 2 years ago from GreenMountainDiapers.com and 2 receiving blankets that I am using. So a total of 16 diapers! Not bad.
I have been doubling up since BB is such a heavy wetter lately. But with 16 diapers I can skip a day of washing if I have to.
My only problem is my lack of covers :(.  I needed to retire the Velcro covers I had since BB would not keep them on. So now I am down to only 4 covers. I can make that work.
Don't forget I am giving away a new pair of homemade wool longies size large- x large. To enter please leave a comment. The winner will be announced Monday.  

Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge

DirtyDiaperLaundry.com

"I am taking part in the Third Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post. This year there are over 400 participants from all over the world!"

This will be my second year participating in the Flats and Hand washing Challenge. I decided to participate once again for the simple reason that I had so much fun last year. Yes I find hand washing diapers covered in poop and pee to be fun! LOL.
Last year my reasons were much more personal. I was poor growing up. I lived 3 years from the age of 6 to the age of 9 without running water. Our well had dried up and my parents could not afford to get it filled. It was hard. But through that experience I became more conscious about water conservation.  For the whole story you can read my post from last year here.
This year will be more challenging than last. First of all my son is 2.5 years old and soaks through everything. I have slowly moved further and further away from cloth diapers and have been much more reliant on disposables. I really need to get back on track with cloth diapering and hope this challenge forces me to do so. My budget and the environment will thank me for that.

Lastly I believe that the more knowledge and experience that I have with diapering on a budget the more I can help people that may be in the same position I was in as a child.
Like last year I will be holding a give away to celebrate the end of the Flats and Hand washing Challenge. This year I will be giving away a new pair of handmade wool longies. I made them from an upcycled thrifted sweater that I felted. They are size large- x large. I am not much of a seamstress so there are some flaws but are totally functional. The waist is elasticized. If you'd like a chance to win these longies please leave a comment. The winner will be announced Monday May 27, 2013.

My Frugal Accomplishments

For the week of 5/6/2013- 5/13/2013

Picked up free bags from my local recycling center. The man gave me 3 packs since I don't get there that often.

Babysat made $50

Picked up 55 yogurt cups for free. They were a managers special with a 50 cent peelie. They rang up 50 cents making them all Free!!! What a steal.

Joined a co-op and placed my first order for grass fed and raw dairy. The prices are comparable with conventional food prices.

Baked 3 loaves of bread.

Had a potluck of leftovers for dinner one night.

Made goat cheese from failed goat milk yogurt.

Passed on material presents for Mother's day and got exactly what I wanted. A family barbeque dinner that I didn't have to cook.

Processed 3 of my chickens myself. Got a little over 20 lbs. of fresh meat!

Rose Hip Oil Salve

Last year my mother in law gave me a big bag of rose hips that she had dried. I didn't really know what to do with them though. I tried tea which I didn't really like. I attempted jam but got so frustrated trying to clean out all of the little prickly hairs from the hips. I ended up straining out the rose hip pulp and making it into a syrup. The syrup is good over oatmeal :) The syrup can also be used as a supplement during cold season because of the high amount of vitamin C found in rose hips... I will tell you all about that in another post. But for now let's get back to the salve.
After some failures in my rose hip experiment I finally came across something that really intrigued me. I read about all of the skin healing properties found in rose hip oil.
Over the past year my skin has gone through so much. First and foremost I recently celebrated my 27th birthday and it shows lol. I feel like I have aged so much since having my son. I am definitely seeing signs of aging on my face. Secondly last summer I got my first bout of eczema. I never had it before and have no idea why all of a sudden it appeared... but it 's again back this year. Thirdly I went through a year of electrolysis which left my skin blotchy and scarred in some spots.  All in all my skin is a hot mess.
Rose hip oil does wonders for the skin. It is super moisturizing. It can help treat eczema, burns and sunburn. It also reduces the appearance of scars and wrinkles. Sounds like a win win to me.
So naturally I had to try it. I looked up how to make my own rose hip oil from what I had and settled on doing an infusion. I put the rose hips and carrier oil (I used almond oil) in my crock pot to speed up the infusion process.
I tried to use it just as an oil but didn't like how greasy I felt afterward. So it sat for a couple of months in my fridge. These rose hips were slowly becoming the bane of my existence. Until I discovered the wonderful world of SALVES!! How a little bit of beeswax could change my life is beside me.
I transformed my rose hip oil into a salve and what a difference. I now love using it and can't wait to try out different herbs.

 

 

 

 

Rag Bag

I can not sew to save my life. LOL. Actually let me rephrase that. I can not sew using my sewing machine. For whatever reason anytime I try to use my sewing machine something goes wrong. A needle breaks, the thread jams.. something always happens that makes me just give up. I dream of really learning how to sew and making beautiful garments but for now I am sticking to quick and easy projects like this rag bag.  Actually it is meant to be a grocery bag caddy but I mostly use reusable bags and really needed a home for all of my rags.  I love this fabric. I had it in my stash for a while now and am so happy that I finally got some use out of it.  It is a heavy black and white toile.

I had taken an online sewing class where I learned how to make a French seam, which I used for the long side of my rag bag. That is actually the only part that was done on my machine. After that my machine was acting up so I just hand sewed the elasticized ends and the strap. The strap is a little wonky but overall I like how it came out.

This week I am linking up with CrunchyCatholicMomma's Stash Bash and NaturalSuburbia's Creative Friday and

The Country Homemaker Hop

Travel Size Playscapes

I have been on a major destash mission lately. I searched ravelry for small projects that would help me use up some of my scrap yarn.  In my searches I stumbled across the cutest project to make for my son. It is a travel size playscape.

Can you guess what's in the bag?

Keep Guessing...

Quack Quack. Two little ducks swimming in the pond. But these aren't any ordinary ducks. They are little finger puppets.

This is such a fun toy. My son is really having a great time playing with his ducks. I plan to use this little playscape for story telling. It will be perfect for telling the story of the Ugly Duckling.
The pattern is called Duck Pond Playset and can be found here.

The following day I was inspired to modify this pattern to make a portable racetrack for my son's cars. I had seen a pattern for a racetrack rug on ravelry but thought that this would be more manageable. So here is my creative juice baby lol.

It came out just how I had imagined. I do wish the track was a bit wider though.
I used stash gray yarn for the track and white for the drawstring.
My changes from the original Duck Pond Playset pattern are as follows:
Follow pattern up to round 10 substituting green for blue and black or gray for green.
Round 10: Ch 1. *2 sc in nest st. sc in next 8 sts. Repeat from * sl st. at end of round to connect round. 60 st. total
Round 11: Same as original pattern's round 10
Round 12: Ch. 1. sc in each stitch around.
Round 13: Change to green yarn. Chain 2. Dc in each st. around. sl st in first st in round. Finish off.

Drawstring done in white: ch 80. Add a matchbox car.

This week I am linking up with Craft-o-maniac.com's Monday Link Party Frontier Dreams' KCCO, CrunchyCatholicMomma's Stash Bash, and NaturalSuburbia's Creative Friday.

Needle Holder

Finally I have something to hold all of my crochet needles. It's been a long time coming. 6 or 7 years ago my mom had started sewing one for me. The furthest she got on that project was cutting out the fabric. Then about 2 years ago I put this pattern in my queue on Ravelry. Well finally it is done!
I used all stash yarn and a vintage "diamond" button that was from my grandmother's button box. As a child from the depression my grandma never wasted anything. She hoarded buttons and all sorts of things. She would cut them off any old or even donated thing she had. I inherited her lovely box of buttons and cherish it so much.

                                         The pattern is called Kluster and is from Berrococ.

                                                        And here it is all rolled up.

I really should have felted this a little more. I only sent it through the wash once. I am nervous that some of the smaller hooks might fall out so for now I am keeping the little hooks in my crochet bag. I do love how this project came it. I am even happier to be making a dent in my stash and to be crossing off projects from my ever expanding queue.

I am linking up with Naturalsuburbia's Creative Friday and Crunchycatholicmomma's Stash Bash this week.

Cutie Camo Shorties

I have been working on these little shorties for a while now.  This project went into hibernation once I realized that they weren't going to fit BB. I have always have sizing issues when it comes to crochet *sigh*.  After debating frogging these little shorties or not I decided to keep going and finish this project!  I am really happy that I did. They came out great!  I used wool alpaca blend yarn from my stash.  The pattern is Cutie Patootie Pants from the book Little Crochet: Modern Designs for Babies and Toddlers by: Linda Permann
I have these listed in my Etsy shop.

What a Day!

Today was such a busy day. I was fasting and intentionally made myself busy so I wouldn't notice my hunger. It worked. Today was my husband's cousin's birthday. I made her a big feast. We had a homemade Boston Market dinner. Chicken, spinach, corn, mashed potatoes, Mac N' cheese. It was all so good! I made her a beautiful chocolate tiered cake with vanilla frosting. Yum!

Ozlem with her Birthday Cake

I have been craving pumpkin cheesecake for a couple of days now. Today was my cheat day from my diet so why not make one. I used a butternut squash from my garden. It was so yummy. I am going to freeze the leftovers for next week's cheat meal lol.

"Pumpkin" cheesecake

As with anytime I cook a squash I had to roast the seeds for my husband. He absolutely loved them. We were down to our last quart of yogurt and running out would be a *catastrophe*. So I heated up the milk. When I remembered to check on it the milk was kind of cold. Lets see if the yogurt sets or not. That is one bad thing about multitasking.
Yesterday we defrosted our chest freezer to make room for meat in the hopes of doing a Qurbani. Inshallah. When I was consolidating everything I found some ground turkey, roasted tomatoes (from my garden last year), and onions. I threw all of that into the crock pot with some pinto beans. I will be having chili for lunch tomorrow!
I made a double batch of laundry soap today and ended up with 5 gallons! I won't have to worry about running out anytime soon.
After dinner in a panic to get everything ready for Eid I took on some of the projects I had planned. I dyed 3 play silks to give BB as a present for Eid. They came out ok for my first attempt. I am hoping to do some more colors tomorrow.

Playsilk in dye bath

While we were waiting for the dye to set me and BB got to cross off another project from my list. I had been wanting to make a replica of the Kaaba to use as a teaching tool and as a decoration for Eid. Last week I got a box already to paper mâché. We paper mâchéd it tonight and I am hoping to have BB paint it tomorrow.

BB gettin'  dirty with some paper mache.

Wow that was a lot. I am tired! It is amazing how much I can get done when I actually put my mind to it and focus! Tomorrow I have another busy day ahead of me. I think I might need a nap first.

Baby Layette

Sunday is my cousin's baby shower.  Instead of buying something off the registry (once you have the baby you realize how much of that stuff you really don't need anyway) I decided to give a handmade gift.  I crocheted a mini layette set in the softest wool and alpaca blend yarn. 

Baby Layette

I made a cute little sweater.  Don't you just love those buttons!  The pattern is free and comes from Bella Bambina Knits blog.  She actually donates these handmade items to low income families that deliver at the hospital where I was born. 
I am not in love with the hat but I had already tried 2 or 3 patterns and just settled on this one.  This is the pattern that I used for the hat.  I want to eventually find a pattern that I absolutely love in case I have to whip up a last minute gift. Any suggestions?
The bootie pattern is my go to pattern.  I have made several of them and they come out fabulous each and every time.  The pattern is from the book Candy Babies: Cute Crochet for Wee Ones by: Candi Jensen.  That book has so many cute patterns. 
Have a great Weekend!