Going Green Step One!

So my mission to go green has offically started. I planted a decent size garden and my veggies are really growing. I also cloth diaper my son. I use g diapers but not the liners, I made washable inserts. My next misson was to find a homemade natural laundry soap and I did! It works great. I looked for powder because I honestly do not have the time to boil and all that.
This is the recipe I used

Powdered Laundry Detergent

2 cups of Ivory Soap (Shaved bar soap)
1 cup Baking Soda (it suggests Washing Soda but I used Baking Soda and it really worked)
1 cup Borax (in your laundry detergent aisle)

Mix all together and put in container with tight lid. I used a tupperware container from walmart.
2 tablespoons per load.

I also purchased a Downey Ball and put 1/3 cup of white vinegar per load to get rid of the excess residue of the soap.

I broke the cost down and it comes to $1.01 for 36 loads...not bad :) Plus my dipes and wipes came out smelling amazingly fresh!!

Next Step: Finding the perfect Mama Pad........

I LOVE G DIAPERS!

I have been really trying to push my family back to the reusable as far as cloth diapers, cloth napkins, wipes and me using mama pads. We have been using cloth napkins and wipes and its working really well. I just added the snaps to my mama pads so in a couple days we will see (hmm hopefully :) no really ready for another kiddie right now LOL) My husband didnt really take onto the cloth like I had wanted and when my little guy grew out of the ones I had I just started back to disposable. He ended up with lots of diaper rashes and I just felt weird about it. But I am super busy getting things ready to send to a store so I needed to find something else. Sooo I ran across some gdiapers that another mama was getting rid of and her little girl never wore. I jumped at the chance because I have seen them at a local health food store but they were pricey and you still were throwing things out. BUT she was willing to sell them for less than have the price at the store so I thought why not. I LOVE THEM!! My little guy is tiny! With tiny thighs so must of the diapers just didnt fit fell enough. I made him some that fit better but I just dont have the time right now. These wrap around him so nice and the ourside isnt pul so its is super soft and flexable....no diaper waddle here! The liner snaps in and during changes I just put a microfiber car towel (you can buy a pack of ten at Walmart for $5) and it works awesome! The microfiber soaks wonderfully and I havent had a leak yet! I just found out that a store loveer to me sells them so I will be off to get more ASAP...I only have two so I have him back in disposable for now and he keeps pulling on it...he gets all excited when I put the gdiaper on him....so cute!

So here is my little guy!

Have you ever used them? Do you use the flushable liners? I think I might try them for long days out...not sure!

Making Zucchini Cookies!

My garden is over flowing with zucchini so it was time for chocolate chip zucchini cookies....hmmm yum! The kids and I had a great time!

Kay was stripped to his little g dipe because we all know there was going to be a mess!

I am featured here.....

Current Treasuries!!
Check them out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=58595

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=58022

Coming Soon!

So things have been rough here the past couple weeks. A Bone Scan found a mass on my Step Mother in Law's spine (SMIL) and we found out yesterday that it is for sure cancer. She won a battle against breast cancer a couple years ago but was never really in remission. Until now all her tests have been clear. This have been devestating to all of us and my first thought was how can I help. She owns a small hair/nail and tanning salon down the road from us in our tiny little town and pays private insurance. The premium is unbelievable and this is a huge burden that is not going to be able to work as much in the comming months. So here is my plan:
I will be adding items tonight and this week that are for her, as in 100% of the profit will go to help with her medical cost. I currently have neckties (embroidered cancer symbol), Survior baby tees, headbands, and bowties ready to be listed. (Pictures will be posted tonight)

I know that is wont be much but I am hoping a little is better than nothing.
She is an amazing mother, lover, friend, sister, daughter, Grammie and my daughter says she is her "best friend".
She is strong!

And the winner is......

All entries were put into a hat and hubby picked out........



Congrats to Debye of C Berry Baby!! You are our winner of the $50 shop voucher to Graceful Babies Boutique!! Thank you for playing everyone! I will be hosting more in the future so be sure to sign up for our RSS feed or keep checking back!!


Have a Great Weekend!!

My first contest!! Win a $50 shop voucher!

I have been wanting to run a contest for a while but just haven't had the guts too (afraid no one will be interested LOL) But tonight as I sit here looking at my fabric for the fall collection, I think I need to move some items in my shop so......

Here is your chance to win a $50 gift certificate to my shop! Thats right $50!! and that can go a long way in my shop. So here are the rules:

1. go to one of my two shops http://www.gracefulbabies.etsy.com/ or my NEW still imcomplete website http://www.gracefulbabies.com/, take a look around

2. Come back to this post and let me know what you would. buy with the gift certificate

3. If you grab my link at the top of the page and put it on your page you get a total of two entries (one for comment, one for the link) but make sure you comment here that you grabbed the link

4. If you post on your blog about the contest than you get ANOTHER entry

So you can get a total of THREE (3) entries for the great contest.....so go check it out!

DEADLINE: the contest will close Friday night at 10pm. Winners will announced T 11pm on Friday night (7/18/08)

Good Luck and have fun!!