Happy Halloween - Tutu Tutorial & November Preview

Can't believe it's that time of year again. Boy does having a baby and being married to a farmer make life fly. And looking back I'm just shocked at where the time went and what I got accomplished. Sometimes I feel super productive, but like now, I still have so many things I would have liked to do this year.  2 more months and this year will be gone. I think my New Year's resolution should be to finsih the projects that I start. I've done alright at doing that this year, if I could keep this blog up I think it will help me finish each project so I can take pictures and show all you wonderful readers. 
Speaking of Halloween and projects, back when my nesting kicked into overdrive and I completed like 3 projects in one week, I made Bug's Halloween costume. She is a Lady Bug (go figure). I am not sure why, but I can not stand those super bulky baby costumes you get from the store and I feel like this was a better lady bug costume than a giant felt round suit I could have put my daughter in. 

She wore black tights and these cute lady bug shoes I got at her baby shower. it was adorable... til she ripped off the headband antennae and her shoes and refused to keep them on for more than the amount of time it took to remove them again. And it was super simple and probably cost less than one of those super bulky things.  My mom sewed the wings onto a plain black onsie, I ironed on the lady bug rhinestones on the front, the antennae from a pipe cleaner wrapped onto a black headband and a cute lil bow from Madre's shop. The tutu is even super easy to! I'll come back and add pictures, though pay no mind that the pictures will be taken from the Christmas tutu that I am currently working on, since I've already made this.

Step 1. Purchase supplies.

• tulle in color(s) of choice - you can find tulle by the yard at Walmart, 2 yards total should be enough, or by the roll at Hobby Lobby, 25 yards of 6 inches, I used less than 1 of each of the red and black.
• Ribbon of color of your choice (no-sew method) - I used Red 7/8 inch (you can also use elastic instead, 3/8 inch is best)
• scissors
• Measuring tape
• Sewing machine or needle if using elastic

Step 2. Measure Ribbon/waistband.

• Use the measuring tape to measure your baby or toddler's waist. Bug's waist is 16 inches. Now you should account for how much "bow" you want after you tie onto babe. I added 12 inches to each side, so my ribbon was a total of ...
                                          16+12+12=40 inches
• If using elastic use this formula to cut...
                                          16-2=14 inches
  The -2 accounts for the stretching of the elastic as you knot the tulle around it, or else you'll end up with a 18 inch waistband when you're through.

Step 3. Knot Ribbon/Sew elastic

• However long you wanted the "bow" strands to be, in my case 12 inches, measure in that far from the edge of your ribbon and tie a knot. Do the same to both ends. There should be your waist size (16  inches) between the knots.  Also use a lighter to burn the edges so they do not fray
• Sew the edges of your elastic together, be sure to go over the stitch multiple times to make it stronger against wear and stretch

Step 4. Cut your tulle.

• You could do some form of epic math to determine exactly how much of each strip you would like, or you could do like me and cut as you knot. Now here's how we form our strips. 
• How long do you want your skirt? This one is 10 inches long, comparing it to other's I have made I prefer 8 inch.
                                 Length x 2 (fold over) + 2 (knot account for knot) = total length
                                           8 x 2 + 2 = 18 inch strips for a 8 inch long skirt 
• I find that 3 inches wide strips work best, so each strip should be 3W x 18L
• Now how many layers of strips per knot depend on how fluffy you would like your skirt. This one is just 1 single layer per knot. Here's a picture of Bug's birthday tutu that is 3 layers for super fluff! Christmas tutu will be 2 layers. 

Step 5. Knot your tulle.

• I use one of those teeny pant clip hanger things to hold my ribbon/elastic to make thing a bit more stable. 
• Take your first "knot" set (1 layer or how ever many layers you chose for one knot) and fold it in half to make it shorter. You'll be using what I call the "bookmark knot". Put the loop you created by folding the tulle behind the ribbon, pull the free ends of the tulle up around the ribbon and through the loop and pull tight. You'll want the clean side of the knot to face out, (pictures to come).
• Continue knotting your tulle onto your ribbon/elastic in the pattern of your choice to get your desired look. The lady bug tutu is 4 black knots 1 red knot repeat... My Christmas tutu is 2 green, 2 red, repeat.

Step 6. WEAR!

• Tie this adorable fluffy tutu onto your little girl and take pictures! 

There is my tutorial for the day. I'm looking forward November. It's getting cold here and nothing is better after a long cold day working on the farm than coming home to something hot and fresh out of the crock pot! I have decided to do a month long series crock potting our meals. It's a win win for everyone if I can keep it up everyday (with the exception of Sundays and Thanksgiving). Hubby comes home every night to a hot meal. I can prepare dinner during the part of the day I feel my best instead of around 5 pm when I start to get worn out chasing Bug especially with Peanut getting as big as he is and giving me pregnancy waddle swag. AND I can make enough to feed 4-6 and freeze the leftovers and voila! I have a whole month's worth of frozen meals for Hubs, Bug and I that I'm sure will come in handy when Peanut is born. So like I said win-win, and that starts tomorrow November 1. Still not 100% certain what I am making, it's time to get groceries, so it'll be a "make with what I got in the pantry" type of crock pot meal. Who else is looking forward to the Thanksgiving Leftovers crock pot meal??? I am! To eating it of course, maybe not so much trying to figure out what exactly to cook. :P

Diaper Laundry Day

I've been meaning to get to this for days now, but it's been so hectic. My little brother is down for a few weeks before being deployed, so we've been spending time with him. Bug just loves Uncle Muncle. 
Speaking of Bug, she's starting to walk!!! In spurts, but more steps get added to those spurts daily. She is also still trying to cut her top left lateral, and hasn't been sleeping well.
Got some major yard selling and grocery shopping to do today.

But how about some fluffy talk? I made my cloth diaper detergent and have used it twice now, so glad to say that so far it appears to be working. I know I should probably do a cloth diaper info post first, but I will need more time to do that, and perhaps a little more experience, but I will post it and refer back to this post. 

So, making your own detergent? great! it's so much cheaper. I'm still using up what's left of my (couponed) store bought detergent, so I haven't yet made/perfected a main laundry detergent, but here's my cloth diaper detergent:

Ingredients:

 1 bar of castille soap, grated (I used Dr. Bronner's baby soap, want to try the lavender)
2 cups of Sun Oxygen cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
10-15 drops tea tree oil

Grate the soap finely,

 mix well with rest of the ingredients.

 I put mine in a big tupperware bowl with the lid and shook shook shook it. 

Use 1-2 tablespoons, depending on water hardness or dirtiness of the load.

I use 2, I have hard well water, with this routine:
1 cold soak/prewash
1 warm normal wash with detergent
1 cold rinse.

About once a week I add a cup of vinegar to the cold rinse, followed by one last rinse. It helps keep away any kind of buildup and keeps the diapers soft, and helps balance the pH with the baking soda in the detergent. You can add the vinegar to every wash, I just do once a week though.

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Now, there are many questions and opinions out there about homemade detergents and cloth diapers. Of course I have mine, but I must stress that this is one of those things that is VERY individual based. So many factors play into washing your diapers. 
1. Your water. Is is hard, soft, normal, city, well, acidic, alkaline. These things affect the effectiveness of your detergent. Hard water has a tendency to "use up" detergent, as the detergent tries to battle and clean the minerals in the water, not leaving much left to clean the contents in the washer, leading to use of more detergent. A water softener (not laundry softener) can be used such as Calgon, to battle this, so can Borax. See below for my thoughts on borax.
2. Your washer. This refers to top or front load. I have a top load, it agitates well, and I can use maximum water level with no issue. More agitation, more water, more clean. I have read that front load washers have sensors in them that automatically set the water level. I think sometimes this can be tricked. You can add water to your washer by hand, or I know some women who put water in their pail to really soak the diapers, making them heavier to trick the washer into using more water. 
3. Your preferences. Lots of things that work for one family, do not work at all for another.

I know you may be wondering why Borax is not including in my detergent, when it is indeed part of many homemade detergents, or why I use bar soap, if you have read this can cause build up and repelling in your diapers, or if you can use Oxi-clean instead of Sun Oxygen.  Borax is a little harsh. Though great for cleaning and water softening, you may want to consider the long term damage it could cause to the PUL and elastic of your diapers. Or that some babies have a reaction to the harshness of it. Same with Oxi-clean. Sun oxygen tends to be not only cheaper, but a little more gentler on clothes and skin. I want my diapers to last as long as I can get them to, being that I'm about to diaper 2 under 2, so I've got at least 3 years of diapering ahead of me, I'd hate to have to re-stash (for my budget's sake, not necessarily my own sake, I love fluff shopping) so I try to avoid anything that could possibly deteriorate the materials, such as Borax and heat drying (the heat can damage elastic especially, so I line/air dry all my covers and pockets)
Now the bar soap... I tried a detergent without the castille soap. It didn't clean well. At. All. I have researched that it can cause buildup, but most people's experience is that it doesn't. If it does, a simple strip here and there, to me, is worth it. Like I've said, only used it once, so I have no experience with or without build up. I should know in a few months or so. That is the only harm that can be done by castille soap. Some people use fels-naptha as well. It can cause reactions to sensitive skinned babes, which I have, so I avoided it completely. 
I also hear that many diaper brands warn against using baking soda. I call balongna.  I think this is one of those things to get you to spend money on the cloth diaper specific detergents that are few and far between without baking soda. I'm really not sure how baking soda of all things can harm any kind of fabric...
Now the tea tree oil, FIY, is fabulous. It doesn't take much, it's a strong essential oil, can find a big bottle of it at Wal-mart or Publix I'm sure. It is a natural disinfectant, and I personally like the way it makes my detergent smell.
I found that while researching and making my own decisions on homemade diaper detergent, it is trial and error. If you use this recipe and it does not work for you, do not give up. Find another recipe, or tweak it. A lady on another forum sent me a 3 load sample of what she uses. It worked after some tweaking. So see, it's easy to find a base to start with, but figure out what works for you. I'm sure that there is a combination out there somewhere that fits. Shoot, it may be Borax, washing soda, and fels-naptha for all we know.

What Hubs calls "Beef PotPie"

I had such an urge to shop today! I think it may be this prenatal sadness that has come over me that makes me want to eat or shop, and right now there isn't much to snack on in my house so I wanted to go shop. But I had to with hold myself til payday. It didn't matter what for either. I could shop for baby stuff at the local Kid's Market that is in town, go shop for some material needed for all my many projects I have lined up to make and share with you, or even just go get groceries. But another day I guess. 

Oh! I got fluff mail today! Thought I would share it!  2 minky Weegro diaper covers and a cow print Kawaii Good Night Heavy Wetter pocket diaper. **More on cloth diapers to come**

Today I have another recipe for you. I was very excited to discover (and tweak) this gem. I needed something quick and easy, without cheese, or any can goods -broken can opener- So I got this and it smells delish!

Beef and Veggie bake
Serves 2-4.

1 pound ground hamburger meet
1 med onion, diced
1 1/2 cup mixed vegetables
2 packets of brown gravy
salt pepper to taste
6 biscuits
5-6 potatoes
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 - 1 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 350*. In a large skillet, brown hamburger meat with onion til pink is gone and the onion is tender. Strain grease.
Mix gravy as directed on packet in the skillet. Add mixed vegetables and meat back into skillet. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Pour mixture into greased 2 quart casserole dish. Arrange biscuits on top.

Bake in oven for 25 -30 mins, or until biscuits brown.
Meanwhile, make up some yummy mashed potatoes. Boil chopped potatoes for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain. Put into a bowl over the butter (can always add more butter too =P). Beat with mixter or mash with potato masher -I prefer the mixer- Add milk when all the butter is melted. Mix until well blended adding more milk til desired consistency is reached. Add more butter and salt to taste.

 Pour your beef and veggie bake over your mashed potatoes and devour. You could eat this with rice instead or even just by itself even. The mashed potatoes was one of my little tweaks. **Sorry for the picture of the partially eaten dish, delayed baby brain, I was eating it when I realized I didn't get a picture of the finished product before we dug in.**
 
Wow that was so good. Bug thought so too. She made such a mess playing in it. But I have to say, I will be cooking that again. Hubs named it Beef Pot Pie  and rightfully so.