Wipe Out

Today was the day we switched over to using cloth wipes for Flynn, who is snuggled up against my chest in his moby wrap as I type! He loves this thing.

4 days old and at the dog park!

We've already blown through two boxes of disposable wipes since he was born. They were very convenient during the first two weeks because he was pooing and peeing so frequently, and that meconium... nasty stuff!  It would have ruined my cloth wipes. However, the disposables were so flimsy and thin, it took a few of them to get everything off Flynn's bum. Just seems like a waste of money to keep buying them week after week. $4 a box x 4 boxes = $16/month for wipes alone. Uh, no thanks. (Buying diapers is annoying me as well but Flynn isn't quite big enough for his FuzziBunz. Soon though!)

After I used the last wipe, I made my homemade wipes solution. My bottle of dish detergent was almost empty, so I rinsed it out to repurpose it for the solution. I used 3 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap (the baby kind in the light blue bottle) and 3 tablespoons of olive oil (to keep Flynn's skin soft). In the future, I might add a few drops of an essential oil like lavender (to make it smell nice) or a few drops of tea tree oil (an anti-fungal).

The oil floats to the top, so I just give the bottle a shake before I squirt it on a wipe.

I felt like something useful could be done with the empty plastic wipe boxes, so I hung onto them and turned to my old friend, Google. Well, Yahoo! actually, but it sounds cooler to say I "googled it." Sorry, Yahoo!

This blog came up and I loved the idea. Who doesn't have a whole bunch of plastic bags shoved in a drawer or closet? I bring reusable bags to the grocery store, but always end up forgetting them when I go to other stores.

I made one for the house (lining waste baskets) and one for the car (doggy poop bags, wet shoes, etc.) Now they are all contained instead of floating around and they pop out easily! I love simple organizing ideas and repurposing.

UPDATE: We removed the olive oil from our homemade wipes solution because it was making our cloth diapers repel pee pee. No bueno! So right now it's just water & Dr. Bronner's and it still works great.

Hung out to dry

I love it when "old fashioned" things become hip again. The clothesline is definitely on it's way back and I'm gettin' down with it. I grew up watching my mom (and eventually helping her) hang laundry on our clothesline in the backyard. In fact, she gives her clothesline credit for her dryer to last for 20+ years. Talk about a worthwhile investment!

When we moved into our new place, I saw the perfect opportunity between two trees and starting gathering my supplies. I picked up 100 feet of clothesline for $8 and 150 clothespins for $6. I have enough line leftover to put one up in the basement for the winter & rainy days, as well.

To supplement the clothesline, I bought a drying rack from Ikea. It holds all of our underwear, socks & smaller items like my tank tops. It also prevents the neighbors from having to look at our unmentionables. Scandalous! Not that we have anything to be ashamed of, but you know, modesty never hurt anyone.

Since the average family spends $200 per year to run their dryer, I've already saved $166 in the first year (if I never use my dryer). I'm sure there will be days when it's pouring rain and I need to dry something quickly, but I'm really trying to avoid it and use mother nature's natural dryer as much as possible... the good old, trusty sun.

Some other sweet advantages to using a clotheslines are:

- More time spent outside, less time spent in my basement

- Everything gets that fresh, outdoorsy smell that could never be replicated by a dryer sheet

- You rarely have to even buy dryer sheets

- Dryers wreck clothes. The proof is in your lint trap.

- No more shrinking your husband's favorite t-shirt... my bad, Tim!

- The sun naturally bleaches out stains
- Exercise (bend & hang, bend & hang)

- You're being green (if you care) by using less electricity

Downsides of/Misconceptions about line drying:

It takes longer

If it's a cloudy day, it might take longer. That's just a sacrafice you'll have to make. Go out and run some errands... no one's going to steal your bath towels. If the sun is out and there is a breeze going, it's just as quick as a dryer.

Bugs in your clothes

This hasn't happened to me yet. I give everything a good shake before I toss it in the laundry basket.

What will the neighbors think?

Seriously? If you care what they think of your laundry routine, your priorities are out of whack. If they have the balls to complain, tell them they should be ashamed for wasting our earth's precious resources and polluting. You're trying to create a cleaner world for your children. No one can argue with that. Then "accidentally" let your purple bra be swept into their yard by the wind. Ha!

My homeowners association won't allow it

That's a legitmate problem, but not a dealbreaker. You could always get a group of clothesline-loving friends together to petition them with the same information you gave your snotty neighbor. It's green, it's lowering your carbon footprint, don't you want our community to be progressive? If they still don't budge, you can always hang one inside or use a drying rack on your deck or patio. Hopefully the gestapo don't have hidden cameras in your basement. That would just be creepy.

Happy Hanging!

It's about time...

How long ago did we move in?

Oh yeah, it's been over a month and I finally have my sewing room set up!

It's actually the enclosed breezeway between the house and garage, but the owners installed handy shelving and a new tile floor to make it a more functional space. What was once their children's playroom is now my playroom. No more sewing/crafting at the kitchen table and having to clear everything off before dinner. This makes me happy :-)

BEFORE



It was basically a dumping ground for all of our extra stuff that we didn't feel like finding a home for after we moved in. The pile of boxes was really getting on my nerves, so while our pup was napping away on Memorial Day, I got down to business.  Indy doesn't know it yet, but once he's housebroken it will also be his area to hang out in while we're at work. Tile floor = easy cleanup after an accident. (Not that we're expecting it, but sh*t happens. Literally.)

AFTER



[That window is begging for bamboo blinds!]



[In the frame are my grandmother's quilt squares and notes from her home economics class. A lovely bridal shower gift from my cousin, Rebecca!]



There is still some junk we need to get rid of, but annoyingly, bulk trash day only comes once a month. I also plan on putting a curtain over the window & door to keep the sun out when Indy is in there. I don't want anyone who pulls up the driveway to be able to see in. They might try to steal our cutie!

"Organized and it feeeeeeels so gooooood..."

Husband Organization

My hunny is getting organized and I love it!

Can you tell I'm rubbing off on him?

Over the weekend, Tim randomly decided to clean out his dresser, which I've mentioned before is mainly comprised of t-shirts. I didn't let him get rid of any dress shirts or sweaters, though, because they are like rare animals on the verge of extinction in his closet.

[Keepers]

He did part with a lot of old T's, undies that were practically disintegrating and worn out socks.

Less stuff to move... and that makes me oh so happy!

When I saw this pile of old undershirts, my brain switched to a 1950's woman's brain and I felt the need to reuse them for something. 

So I got out my sewing scissors and cut them up into cleaning rags.

My mom did this when I was little and I guess the idea stuck.

Tim's decision to de-clutter was such a delightful surprise.

I didn't even care that it occurred at 8am on a weekend.