Cloth Diapering a 1.5-Year-Old Toddler

I recently blogged about why we started cloth diapering and how it inspired us to live greener.

Well, I thought I'd share our stash with you!

Our stash has changed dramatically since she was a newborn.

We loved loved loved prefolds and fitteds with covers when she was tiny.

Now, this is our stash.

From the top row left side:

Those are just some our cloth wipes that I ordered from this amazing WAHM. I got them 20 months ago and they're still like new. I love her stuff so much that I ordered unpaper towels and other goods from her (will blog about those later).

The next 2 piles are Fishnoodles and Bright Star Babies (both are by the same company, now called Peachy Green). I love love love these. They're super trim. I will say, though, that I have to use their hemp booster so that Y doesn't leak out, but the hemp boosters are super trim, too, so no big deal. Y is wearing one in the first picture of this post at the top. These are Size 1 diapers. On one side, she's at the smallest setting and on the other side, it's set to the 2nd smallest setting... so I'm pretty sure she can wear these until she's potty trained!

The tall pile in the middle of the top row are my pocket diapers from BumGenius. These are definitely my go-to diapers and they're also what we use as our nighttime diapers (we stuff them with the doublers that are pictured on the bottom row, very left). We DO NOT use the microfiber inserts, though. We stuff them with Flip diapers organic inserts. This combination is perfect for us.

Next to those are the diapers that I made. I made more, but these are the ones she still fits into. They are fitted diapers.

Our two BagShot Row Bamboo diapers are on the top row, all the way to the right. We don't use these. They are back-up dipes for us.

Bottom row, all the way to the left - These are the Stay Dry Doublers from BumGenius. This is what we stuff the pockets with for extra protection for nighttime.

The orange one next to that is our one and only SoftBum all-in-2 diaper.

The blue and yellow one next to that is our BumGenius Organic Elemental all-in-1 diapers. Easy to use.

The green and orange one in the middle is our Gro-baby diapers (now GroVia). I used the covers as her swim diapers for swim lessons. :)

The polka dotted ones are Rumparooz. We have 3, but she was wearing one of them. These have a much lower rise compared to the other ones.

And lastly, we have these prefolds, covers, and snappis (we have more, but I can't find them). We rarely use these now. They're completely our back-up diapers.

There you have it! Our toddler cloth diaper stash!

Wish I took a picture our stash when she was a newborn. We have most of them still, but it's in storage. I'll definitely remember to take a picture if and when we have another newborn!

Oh, I took a picture of the inside of our diapers.

NO STAINS.

I don't "sun" them.

I don't bleach them.

I simply wash them with All Free and Clear.

That's all.

That green strip of fabric on the bottom is a fleece liner that I cut out. I put this on top of each diaper before I put it on Y. It keeps her feeling dry AND (best of all) her poop literally rolls off. :D

Ok, one last picture.

I was putting the dipes away after taking these cloth diaper pictures, and Y wanted to help!

:D

Do you cloth diaper? Why/why not? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Oh, and I wanna know your stash, too!!

No Poo Tuesday Report - Week 5

Things are going pretty good.

I noticed that my hair was getting dryer... might be the weather.

So, I decided to make my ACV mixture stronger and less diluted.

We'll see how that goes!

I'll report back next week to let you know!

:D

Have you started?

No 'Poo - Week 3 (my first no poo post)

No Poo - Week 4 - with recipe

Weekend Farmers Market Trip - March 24

I didn't get to go with H and Y to the farmers market last Saturday, but they took a picture of what they got for me!

Cauliflower

Grapes

Apples

Kumquats

Brussels Sprouts

Daikon

Strawberries

Mint

I wish I could've gone with them, but I like that they've embraced the local, fresh produce idea and that they can go even if I don't tell them to go. hahaha.

What do you like to get at the farmers market?

Balcony Garden and Sprouting Garlic Bulbs

Last week, Y. and I planted some seeds to restart our balcony garden. Our condo's balcony is on the small side, but we wanted to make the best use out of it. We get sun all day long so it's perfect!

Ok, put the last few sentences aside for a second. Let's talk about my garlic.

About a week and a half ago, I found garlic for SUPER CHEAP. Like... 15 bulbs for less than a dollar. Of course, I got them. We use a lot of garlic in our cooking and I thought I could use them all. Well, today, I looked at them and saw that they were totally sprouting. Like a lot.

See?

If they're sprouting just a little bit, I just take out the sprouts before using them.

This is the most I've seen it sprout, because I use them before it gets like this. It's probably nothing and I could've still just taken the sprouts out to use them, but...

I've read that people plant these sprouting garlic bulbs. I still have a few bulbs without sprouts that I could use for cooking so I thought, hey, why not. I'll plant them!

I put them in empty pots and covered it with soil. We'll see how they turn out!

Here's our balcony garden!

There's actually 4 of those long brown planters, but I couldn't get them all in the picture.

Aside from the sprouting garlic cloves, we also have the following:

- Cilantro

- Basil

- Red Radishes

- Jalapeno Peppers

They're already sprouting!!

Here's a picture of the red radishes!

Cute, no? :D

Can't wait to harvest!

I'll report back about the garlic bulbs, too. :)

Homemade Vanilla Extract

I love to bake. I use a lot of vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is EXPENSIVE. They come in tiny bottles and I use them up really fast. Which means... I buy lots of little tiny bottles of expensive vanilla extract.

I know that people make their own vanilla extract so I looked it up. It's SO easy. Why didn't I do this before!?!?

I decided to make my own vanilla extract. I mostly went off of this recipe.

All you need are some vanilla beans and vodka. This recipe calls for 1 cup vodka.

I decided to get Madagascar Vanilla Beans. There are lots of different kinds, so you can choose whatever one you want!

I cut my vanilla beans in half width wise and length wise.

I also read on various other recipes that you should scrape out the vanilla beans, so I did that with just 2 of the cut pieces.

Then, I put everything in a small mason jar (should've used a bigger one, but that's all I had).

It looks like there's no liquid in there, but I promise, it's filled to the top with vodka. :)

And that's it!!

I'm supposed to shake it every day and let the vanilla infuse into the vodka for at least a month. It's best after 2-3 months. I can't wait!!

As you use up this vanilla extract, you can just keep adding more vodka so you never run out! YES!!!! If the flavor seems to be not as strong, you add another cut vanilla bean. Easy peasy.

I've read several other recipes where you just use a bunch more vanilla beans and put them directly into the vodka bottle. So, you don't even need an extra container!

Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe (adapted from Simply Notable)

Ingredients

3 whole vanilla beans

1 cup vodka

1. Cut the vanilla beans in half width wise. Then, cut them length wise.

2. Optional - Scrape out a few of the cut vanilla beans (I did 2 of them).

3. Put 1 cup of vodka and cut vanilla beans (and scraped out parts if you did) into a jar. The beans should be completely submerged.

4. Shake daily for at least 4 weeks. Vanilla extract will become better with time (2-3 months).

* Add more vodka and/or vanilla beans as you use it up.

I'll report back in a few weeks to let you know how it turned out! I'm so excited!!

Let me know if you decide to make your own vanilla extract, too!

Also... I'd love to know who's visiting here so come say 'hi' in the comments and follow me through Google Friend Connect! I would love to hear some ideas of green (frugal and eco-friendly) things I can do!

Quick Update!!

It's only been a little over 6 hours and here's what it looks like!

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 4

We are now in our 4th week of going "no 'poo".

Yes, I still kind of think I'm crazy and I can't really believe I'm doing this... and that I've done it for 4 weeks now.

I have an update. Towards the end of last week, my scalp seemed... dare I say it?... A little on the greasy side.

O_O

Um, no. I don't think so.

"No 'Poo" is only going to work if my hair/scalp was clean and... well, normal, if you know what I mean.

I already knew how to tackle the hard water issues (the boiling water method).

I searched online and found 2 other suggestions.

- Don't wet my hair before I use the baking soda mixture. It's wet enough anyway.

- Add a little bit (like drops) of tea tree oil.

I tried both. I already had tea tree oil so these 2 adjustments were super easy for me to make.

This did the trick. My hair and scalp are back to normal and my hair is super soft once again.

Yay!

Someone asked me about what the baking soda and apple cider vinegar recipe I'm using..

This is what we've been using in the last week or 2. We adjusted from our original recipe because I think we were using too much baking soda. We like this adjusted recipe so far, but I'll let you know if we ever make any changes!

Here is what we're using right now!

Baking Soda Mixture - for those with hard water

1. Boil 4 cups of water and keep it boiling for 15 more minutes.

2. Turn off the heat and SLOWLY add 1/4 cup (used to be 1/2 cup... This lesser amount is working for us, too, so far) of baking soda. It'll fizzle!

3. Gently mix.

4. Let it cool and transfer to container (we use an old shampoo bottle).

* Only transfer the liquid if there's stuff on the bottom.

5. Add a few drops of tea tree oil.

- If you made the mixture correctly, your fingers should feel slippery when you touch it.

- To use: Don't wet your hair before using. Pour some of the mixture onto your scalp. Make circles and "massage" your scalp. Make sure it gets all over your scalp. I don't really put any on the rest of my hair. If you made the mixture correctly, your scalp should feel squeaky clean! Rinse thoroughly.

Apple Cider Vinegar Mixture

1. Mix 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.

2. Pour into your container of choice (we use an old shampoo bottle). That's all!

- To use: I put it only on my ends and avoid the scalp. I take my shower hair brush (it's all plastic) and brush out your hair. ACV is truly a natural conditioner and detangler! Rinse thoroughly.

You might need to adjust your baking soda and apple cider vinegar amounts, but this is what's working for me right now.

It takes time to adjust.

The baking soda mixture won't lather up.

Apple cider vinegar smells like... vinegar. I actually don't mind it at all. It completely disappears after your hair dries. My hair smells really nice, actually. :)

Oh, and remember how I said I think my skin is a lot clearer since going no 'poo?

It seems like I'm not the only one that experiences this. Strange, but a lot of no 'poo-ers notice that their face becomes smoother and more clear. :)

(Check out my first post here.)

What do you think about this whole "No 'Poo" thing?

Let me know if you try it out!

Free $5 Gift Card to Islands!

Hurry and grab your free $5 gift card to Islands! There's one really close to my home and I just went there with friends a few weeks ago.

All you have to do is upload a photo of a point break wave or a beach and they'll send you an email with your gift card. I uploaded an old photo that I took in Hawaii and I got my $5 off email instantly!

Go go go! :D

PS. Participating states only. Also, I am not affiliated with Islands Restaurants and was not paid or given any compensation to post this. :)