Are your favorite companies on Pinterest yet?

Pinterest is quickly becoming a favorite hangout for companies.  Retailers and manufacturers are realizing that Pinterest is one of the hottest social media pages and it’s bringing in lots of traffic to their websites and some very nice brand awareness.  Here are just a few of my favorite companies who have joined Pinterest:

DiaperShops.com – Sharing cloth diaper tips, laundry organization, and great cloth diapering baby pictures.  They’ve even shared tips on how to replace the elastic in FuzziBunz.

Cotton Babies – I love their Take a Look in the Mirror board which features my favorite colors.

Earth Mama Angel Baby – Take a look around their boards for some herbal remedies, beautiful breastfeeding photos, and more natural goodness.

ones&twos – this brand new cloth diaper company is already getting off to a great start with their new page.

itti bitti – who doesn’t love all things minkee?

AppleCheeks Diapers – their boards are under construction right now but I’m sure they will be “Delicious.”

FuzziBunz - their boards are also under construction.  I’m sure you may spot a few bunz on their boards.

Kaia Magazine – a new sustainable living e-magazine.  Kaia’s boards include Easy DIY projects and DIY Household Cleaning.

Project Pomona – a new company that makes jeans and capris specially for those cloth diapered fluffy bums.

Source: etsy.com via Project on Pinterest

LunaPads are also on Pinterest sharing their mama pads, Diva Cup (which I am in love with), and a little menstrual humor.

Is your favorite company on Pinterest yet?  Who have I missed from the eco-minded and cloth diapering realm?  Share your links below and I’ll be sure to add them to the list.

Don’t forget to follow me and my boards on Pinterest too.  I have some fun projects coming up that will include a little pinning.

Are you a company who wants to learn more about the social media capabilities of Pinterest?  I’m becoming quite fluent in all things pinnable and would love to help you develop your Pinterest accounts.  Contact me for more information.  

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Sponsor spotlight: Kissed by the Moon (and a giveaway)

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Kissed by the Moon is sponsoring this giveaway and is an advertiser on The Eco Chic blog for the month of February.

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 In just a few short weeks I’ll be boarding a plane and heading North to Nashville for my second Blissdom conference.  Last year I decided on a whim to go and it was the best decision I made all year.  I actually learned so many valuable lessons last year that I can hardly wait to see what I will learn this year.  I’m excited to see that they have revamped their schedule this year too.  For those who have never been to Blissdom or for those who may be going for the first time here are a few things I’m really looking forward to…

5 Things I’m Looking Forward to at Blissdom 2012

1. NEW! Handmade Marketplace – I need to remember to bring some cash and be ready to shop!  I can’t wait to see what these creative moms have in store for me.  It will be like shopping on Etsy only in person – I think I may get in a little bit of trouble.  Perhaps I will find some inspiration for some craft projects of my own or perhaps I’ll find some new site sponsors.  Only time will tell.  This will be taking place Thursday afternoon so as soon as my flight lands I’ll be heading over to the Marketplace.
2. Business Track Sessions – Since I’m now working in Social Media full time I can really learn some lessons in this track.  The 2 sessions I’m looking forward to here are the Legal Confidence and the Facebook sessions.
3. Mobile Photography Session – OK, I’m going to have to choose between Facebook and Mobile Photography because I really want to do both.  I’m addicted to my iPhone (even if it is an old 3GS) and I’m constantly taking photos and posting to Instagram.
4. Lorax Party Friday Night!!!  I’m an eco-junkie so of course I’m excited about seeing the Lorax and having a themed party around the movie is going to be so much fun!  Maybe I should come up with a clever little outfit for the evening.  Hmmmm….
5. Networking and Connecting!  I really had the opportunity to make some amazing connections last year and meet up with some old friends (and some new friends).  The difference between Blissdom and BlogHer (the only 2 conferences I’ve attended) is that at Blissdom you can really make those lasting relationships with brands, companies, and some amazing bloggers/writers/photographers!  Everyone is so welcoming that I can’t wait to see some of the people I met last year and make some new friends.

Now I just need to organize some friends locally to help the hubs with drop off and pick up at school.  I’m pretty sure I can sweet talk some of my friends to help us out for a day or two.

This year I’m going to Blissdom for myself and my job.  DiaperShops.com is sponsoring part of my trip and I’m super excited to share my passion for cloth diapers with new friends.  I would love to find a few non-cloth diapering parents (or parents to be) who would be interested in giving cloth diapers a try – I might even be able to provide you with part of your fluffy stash (slang for diapers) if you’re up for the challenge!  Let me show you just how similar cloth diapers are to disposables and how you can save money, help protect the environment, and provide a healthier, more natural diapering system for your baby.

Are you going to Blissdom?  I’d love to connect with you!  Leave me a comment here, visit me on Facebook, or send me a Tweet and I’ll be sure to add you to my ‘must meet’ list at Blissdom.  15 days and counting….

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Many parents don’t start looking for environmentally friendly options in their lives until after they have babies.  We want only the most natural of items to touch those precious little babies and all of their baby parts.  We clean their clothes in gentle detergent.  We wash their skin in sensitive soaps.  We put the softest diapers on their little bums.  Here are a few ways you can use that little yellow box of Baking Soda – for your baby!

5 Ways to Use Baking Soda for Babies

1. Stain remover – add 1/2 cup of baking soda with your favorite detergent to remove those pesky baby stains (like spit up on your favorite shirt or brand new onesie).
2. Clean toys – make a solution of 1 part baking soda to 4 parts water and rub down your favorite baby toys.  Follow with a quick rinse and their toys will be squeaky clean.
3. Diaper pail stinkies?  Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda in your diaper pail or wet bag to help keep the odors away.  This trick works for both disposable and cloth diapers.  With cloth diapers it’s not recommended to use baking soda in the wash so sprinkle the baking soda in the bottom of your pail or wet bag instead of directly on the diapers.
4. Diaper rash – you can add 2 TBS to a tub full of warm water to help soothe your babies skin if they happen to have a diaper rash.  (Be sure to consult a doctor or medical professional if rash is severe or for open sores)
5. Cradle cap relief – make a paste using baking soda and olive oil (or baby oil) and gently rub on babies scalp to remove the flaky areas.

There are a million and one other uses for baking soda for your baby, cleaning, pets, and even for a little homemade spa treatments.  How do you use baking soda around your home?

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Do your kids take vitamins and mineral supplements?  I’ve never been that great at remembering to take vitamins myself.  My husband is much better at that type of stuff.  I can’t even remember to take my daily medication.  My children have both become quite fond of taking their vitamins though thanks to Shaklee Kids Incredibites and Mighty Smart supplements.

Both my 8yr old and my 3yr old ask for their vitamins every morning while they are getting ready for school.  It’s (finally) become part of our morning routine.  This is the season in Florida when vitamins can be very helpful for keeping my kids healthy.  The Florida weather can be bright and sunny and 80 in the afternoons – or it can be chilly (for our standards) and 40 in the morning.  Perfect weather for our little ones to get sick.

Have you heard of Shaklee before?  It’s not a new brand or company.  In fact, they have been around for over 50 years and are a very environmentally friendly company.  Here are just a few random eco-facts about the Shaklee Corporation:

• They created one of the first biodegradable household cleaners back in the 1960′s.
• They have never, and will never, test their products on animals.
• They were the first company in the world to go Carbon Neutral, meaning they have net zero impact on the environment.
• They rescue and recycle one ton of other companies cardboard.
• They have a long history of environmental stewardship awards from several state agencies and from the EPA.

Today they have a full line of healthy home, healthy beauty, and and nutrition products including the Shakleebaby line.

Five things I loved about the ShakleeKids Incredibites:

1. No artificial sweeteners,
2. No artificial colors,
3. No preservatives,
4. Contains 23 essential nutrients, and
5. My kids ASK to take them!

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Would you like to know the very latest happenings around the cloth diapering community?  I thought so!

For starters, let me say that while I may not get my blog updated as much as I like I am still very active in the community.  You can find me most days on Facebook where I moderate several cloth diapering community pages including my own.  I can also be found blogging for other companies and appear as a guest of a few blogs as well.  I’ll try to do better with cross posting here so you don’t miss a single article from me.

News from this week:

• Wednesday night Kim Rosas from Dirty Diaper Laundry hosted an amazing Twitter Party for the Giving Diapers, Giving Hope organization.  The community raised over $1,500 so far in their fundraising efforts to become an official non-profit and to continue supporting families in 2012.  You can read more about the campaign on Dirty Diaper Laundry and enter to win some amazing prizes through Feb. 14th on her Facebook fan page.  To review the community tweets on this campaign follow #GivingHOPE.  They are always accepting donations of any size – even $1 can help!  Oh, and be sure to wish Kim a Happy Belated Birthday!
• Jennifer Labit, the founder and owner of bumGenius and the Cotton Babies line of products met with Congresswoman Rosas DeLauro this week in Washington, DC to discuss the DiaperACT and what steps we can all take to ensure that cloth diapers are included in this legislation.  Watch Jenn’s blog for a follow up post soon with additional information about her visit and follow her on Facebook for real time updates.  << Updated post has been published about how you can Share Your Story to Help Support the DiaperACT.
• Kelly Wels reveals her all new Cloth Diapers Ambassadors Team including some of my favorite bloggers (and friends).  Are you following all of her Ambassadors yet?
• Get Ready!  It’s time to start planning for the Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012!!  The Real Diaper Association is accepting early bird applications for 2012 hosts until February 29, 2012.  If you are in the Tampa area you can already register for our 2nd annual event organized by Tushie Ties cloth diapers and a few guest appearances (perhaps myself AND Kim from Dirty Diaper Laundry) on April 21st at the Great Explorations Children’s Museum!!  Be sure to follow all the action on our Tampa Bay Area Facebook Page for the GCDC.

My posts around the web:

• Cloth Diapering 101: How to Prep Cloth Diapers on the DiaperShops.com blog.  Be sure to read the follow up by another guest author on Prepping for Cheaters.
• 5 Steps for Successful Potty Training on the KellyWels.com blog with my graphical introduction post here.

Recent Cloth Diaper Articles & Reviews:

• Did you read my review of the mabu baby eco diapering system last week?  I talk briefly about why selling cloth diapers at Wal-Mart can be beneficial to the community.  I’m still working on another post about why I think it’s a bad idea too (with every good there is typically a bad side also).
• I’m still a few days away from posting my review of the ones&twos AIO system but you can watch a brief video from another blogger, Tara from Padded Tush Stats.  I can tell you that we tested it overnight on our tot with the extra booster added and it held up for 11 hrs with no leaks.  It sure was soaked but it held up like a trooper!!
• Have ammonia issues?  Concerned that your detergent might be causing the problem?  Be sure to read the Cloth Diaper Geek’s Fact or Fiction post.  She shares great tips and advice along with some facts from the leading detergent manufacturers.

Cloth Diaper Sales:

• Kelly’s Closet always has great coupon codes worth sharing!  They also just REDUCED their shipping fees for standard shipping under $49.  They always have FREE SHIPPING (standard US shipping only) on orders of $49.  Right now they have 4 active codes to choose from including:

1. BABYBUM code for a free $22+ valued diaper with purchase of $99 or more,
2. CLEANDIPE code for a free bag of Ruby Moon detergent with purchase of $75 or more,
3. FREEBOOK code for a free copy of the Changing Diapers book with purchase of $15 or more, and
4. 2012ROCKS code to save 10% off your purchase of Rockin’ Green detergent.

Note: These offers have limitations and exclusions and may expire at any time.  For additional details please visit Kelly’s Closet.  

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Eco-Crafting Tutorial: How to Make a Wreath Using a Queen Size Sheet

Supplies: One wire wreath form (or any wreath form), one queen size sheet, one pair of scissors

Time: 1-2 hrs for a large wreath

You can reuse or upcycle with any fabric. I found the perfect color sheet at the local thrift store to match the color of my little girls room for only $3.00. There weren’t any stains on it but even if there were some minor staining you could still use it for this project. Solids or prints, both would work fine. If I had found a chocolate brown and ivory sheet that day I would probably have used all 3 and alternated the colors in the wreath. You can also use fabric scraps from old t-shirts or any fabric remnants that you have. Just be sure you have a LOT of scraps. I used the entire queen size sheet for a large wreath form. Total cost: Less than $5.00

Directions:

-Cut the fabric into equal sized strips. Our strips were approximately 1-1.5″ wide and 6-9″ long. Be sure to cut the strips to about the same size or you’ll end up with an uneven looking wreath.

-Tie each strip onto the wreath form with a simple knot. I only tied a single knot but a double knot would prevent them from coming undone later. It’s not a piece that will get handled a lot so a single knot is fine for my purposes.

-Continue tying strips to the wire wreath form working to fill in as much space as possible. The entire process took me a little more than an hour to complete (after the kids were in bed). It’s a good project to do while watching television of chatting with family and friends.

-Embellish. You can add any additional embellishments if you like. Painted wooden or cardboard lettering would be cute hanging in the middle of your wreath with a coordinating ribbon.

-Hang up and Enjoy! I used a simple over the door wreath hanger. You could even add a ribbon if you want it to hang lower.

For more eco-crafting tutorials and tips check out my archives where I completed this project using old t-shirts on a much smaller scale. Have you completed a project seen here? Share it with me on Facebook. I’d love to see your pictures!

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A few days ago I challenged you to make a Pledge to Go Green in 2012.  My first challenge was to set a goal for yourself and to write it down.  I promised that I would come back and share my own goal with you, so here it goes…

My Green Pledge for January:  To share more eco-tips with each of you on a regular basis.  Don’t I already do this?  My blogging habits have not been the healthiest and I often feel like my blog is messy and unorganized.  Probably because that is my style and who I am.  But I’m setting my own goal for January to become a more organized blogger and that begins with creating an editorial calendar!  I have thought about this for over a year and I’m finally implementing it.  Guess what?  It doesn’t stop with writing it down either.  I researched editorial calendars and I’ve printed one off – it’s sitting right in front of me!  I even have January filled in with ideas and plans.  I have so many ideas and plans that February is almost full too.

I found a great article by Angela England about How to Use Editorial Calendars Effectively in Blogging.  It was complete with links to a downloadable Editorial Calendar for 2012 (by Blog Energizer).

Now to find the time to actually write everything I have on my calendar.

Did you make the Pledge to Go Green yet?  Did you finish step 1?  What is your goal and what are your plans to achieve your goal?

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Select WalMart stores now carry a line of cloth diapers called mabu baby.

The team at mabu baby was nice enough to send me a few of their products to review and test on Lil’ B.  When the box came I was quite impressed with the contents and the different options that they have available.  Most parents who will find the mabu baby line will probably stumble upon them at the actual store so looks and packaging is very important.

If I saw this packaging at the store I would probably stop and look.  Read the box.  Add it to my gift registry.  And maybe even purchase a box to try out.  They come sized similar to disposable diaper sizing (newborn, size 1, size 2, and size 3/4) so those are additional similarities to disposable diapers.  The box even says, “goes on easy like a disposable.”

The Maxi Starter Kit included:

• 2 diaper outers with 2 snap-in pad holders
• 2 washable pads
• 2 disposable pads
• 5 liners

and the size range is for 15-40lbs.  That’s actually a pretty good size range for someone who may have stumbled across these diapers at WalMart.  It would certainly intrigue me to give them a try.

Honestly it’s not much different than stumbling across a package of gDiapers at your local natural food store.  This system gives parents the option to try a hybrid diapering system with both a reusable option and a disposable option.  What it offers you however is a more affordable option than gDiapers.  Also – more people shop at WalMart than natural food stores.  They certainly have the market but how will people respond to them once they get them home and how well do they work?

Let’s look at the diaper and the pieces one piece at a time:

The Maxi cover seen in the picture is for toddlers 15-40lb.  It has a simple hook & loop closure that reminds me of the old GroBaby (the old version of GroVia) aplix.  It’s a very fine aplix that attaches to a very soft section across the front. There is a small laundry tab that uses the same ultra soft fabric that goes along the front of the shell.  The laundry tabs are smaller than the actual aplix.  The shell is made of 100% recycled polyester and is lined with a 100% recycled polyester fleece that is very soft (backed with PUL).  Along the inside of the front/back of the diaper the polyester outer material is used to create a flap that hides the snaps for the snap-in pad holder.    My thoughts:  I like the softness and the fine aplix but it’s not very strong.  When washed I ended up with the dreaded diaper chain.  The diaper doesn’t have a cross over closure either so if you have a small waisted baby you may need to go with a smaller size.

Aplix and laundry tabs.

Inside of the Maxi Cover.

Inside of Maxi Cover with Snap-In Pad Holder.  You could easily reuse the outer shell and simply replace the snap-in pad holder and insert.  However if the outer shell gets soiled or wet it’s fabric so you’ll need to wash and dry before you can use it again.

Snap-In Pad Holder with 3 snaps on the front piece.  Simple to use, easy to attach, and the snaps are covered with an additional polyester layer so no snaps will touch your baby.

Snap-In Pad Holder has 2 snaps to secure it to the Maxi Cover in the back.

Washable cloth pad insert.  Stay dry on one side and microfiber on the other.  When folded to fit inside the cover you’ll have 4 microfiber layers and 2 stay dry layers.  This was plenty of absorbency for our tot at night but an extreme heavy wetter may need one more insert.

Maxi cover with snap-in pad holder and washable pad in place.  The insert was a little long but I was able to fold it over just fine inside the pad holder.

Disposable pad.  Reminded me of a postpartum mama pad.  Very absorbent but needed to be folded to fit my tot.

Flushable diaper liners.  5 samples included with the Maxi Starter Kit.  Strong enough you could actually wash them once if you wanted to try to get 2 uses out of these.

A very poor photo of my tot modeling her mabu baby from behind.  She’s 3yrs old and about 25lbs.  There is plenty of room to grow in these diapers.  I think the Size 2 would have fit her skinny booty better.

From the front.

What do I think about mabu baby?  It’s a diaper and it works!  It’s certainly nothing fancy and doesn’t have all the amazing features of my favorite diapers…

…but I don’t think it’s suppose to either!  The customer of these diapers are hopefully going to be the parents who stumble upon them at WalMart who have never seen a modern cloth diaper.  They may have only seen those horrible Gerber prefolds and flats that now reside at most WalMart stores and the plastic pants that accompany those.  If this is the customer who finds mabu baby and gives them a try I think it’s a good start.

5 Reasons I think mabu baby diapers are good for the cloth diapering community:

1. More parents have the opportunity to to learn about modern cloth diapers.
2. More babies will be protected from the nasty chemicals of disposable diapers.
3. More families will have extra income to feed, cloth, and house their children and themselves.
4. Less disposable diapers will end up in our landfills.
5. More families will come online to research cloth diapers…and hopefully finding out just how large the cloth diapering community really is!

Are you one of those families who found cloth diapers because of mabu baby diapers?  I would love to hear your experiences.

More about mabu baby:  http://mabubaby.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mabu-Baby/148231378586512

Twitter: @mabubaby

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