January 22nd, 2010
Hoping to be inspired in my quest for domestic success, I took a class last week called ‘Essentially Clean’ by Linda S. Melanson at Goodness Me. It was a class about using essential oils and basic ingredients to make your own household cleaners. Even though I’ve used every day items like vinegar and baking soda to clean for years, I was surprised at how much better these recipes worked — especially the floor cleaner! I think the oils help cut the grease and add a great scent! I’m overly sensitive to chemicals and artificial scents, so I’ve been using scent-free everything for a long time. The essential oils don’t bother me and now my house smells so pretty. 
Linda has kindly allowed me to share the floor cleaner recipe with you. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity — it leaves the floor nice and clean without a leftover film (which I get from a lot of store-bought natural cleaners).
Floor Cleaner
1 cup of vinegar
5 drops of lemongrass essential oil
2 tbsp of castile soap
Add the ingredients to your pail and add hot water. If you need a stronger cleaner, add 1/4 c of washing soda to the mixture.
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January 16th, 2010
I really love the blog entry below, found on the Breastfeeding Moms Unite website. It gives you a great mental image of how big your newborn’s tummy is and how much food they actually need. When I had my daughter, the nurses at the hospital insisted that she was hungry and needed formula, even though she had nursed successfully three times that day. I wish I had read this entry before going, I feel like I would have been able to argue better. I wanted to share this on my blog, in case anyone else finds the article helpful.
http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/2009/07/the-princess-and-the-chick-pea-and-the-grape-and-the-walnut/
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January 11th, 2010
When I used prefold with my newborn, I simply folded them in three and lay them in the cover. It was easy, but not always effective. Now, two years later, I stumbled across this FANTASTIC tutorial on how to do different folds. If your interested in folding, check it out:
http://theecofriendlyfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/prefold-picture-tutorial.html
Tags: cloth diapers, prefolds
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January 10th, 2010
I had two resolutions this year. The first was to get back into blogging, and the second was to embrace the domestic goddess within — which ideally would give me the content for my blog. Unfortunately, it turns out that my inner homemaker is MIA and that has left me little to write about.
But that’s all going to change starting today…
It turns out that my inner goddess was hiding in the pantry, frozen in despair at the sight of the fifty-two thousand almost-empty bags of rice and beans and flours and what not. I quickly grabbed her arm, yanked her out, and promptly shut the door. Problem solved.
I mean, really, first things first, okay? Let’s start with the basics. Like…. ok, I’ve got a load of diapers that needs to be done and a little girl who has about 50/50 accuary in using the potty. Those need to be done before bedtime, or its going to be a soggy night. So on that note, I’m going to go introduce my inner domestic goddess to the washing machine.
But I’ll write again soon and keep the blog updated on my progress. And if you have any tips or ideas for keeping my house clean and organized, feel free to send them my way. At the very least, it’ll give me something to read while I procrastinate from cleaning.
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November 25th, 2009
I have been working on a new site design for Daisy Days, something that is cleaner and much easier to use. I’d love your feedback — if you have any thoughts, please feel free to contact me and let me know!
I’m also in the process of creating gift certificates — an excellent Christmas gift for new mamas! Check back in about 10 days, as they should be available for purchase online.
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November 16th, 2009
Wow, I didn’t realize that so much time has passed since my last post! Twitter has totally taken over ha ha. If you tweet, look for me at tea4tamara!
Anyway, I just got the book Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule for my birthday and it has patterns for homemade prefold diapers (make them out of old tshirts!) and homemade baby pouches, among many other awesome things. If you are interested in saving some money and making some baby stuff yourself, definitely check this book out!
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October 20th, 2009
I just placed an order for ten awesome Babyhawks and I CAN’T WAIT for them to get here! Babyhawks are a brand of mei tai carrier and are very popular among babywearers. Honestly, it took me forever to pick out ten. They have hundreds of options and you can customize your carrier in so many ways. And at first that sounds great, but quickly becomes overwhelming!
I’ve spent the last few days (well, weeks really) looking online at pictures of people wearing their Babyhawks to get a feel for popular colours and patterns. I think that I’ve picked ten that will look great and sell quickly. I’m hoping they’ll be here in three to four weeks, and I’ll post some photos of them once they arrive!
(Oh, I ordered some more FuzziBunz diapers today too, so if you’ve been checking out my selection and noticed that it seems sparse, don’t worry! I’ll have a new stash soon!)
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October 17th, 2009
Some people have mentioned to me that they’d like to try and sew their own mei tai. I found this pattern online and wanted to link to it for anyone who is interested.
http://www.sewliberated.com/patterns.html#meitai
If you aren’t crafty and would prefer to buy a ready-made mei tai, not to worry! I am working on an order of BabyHawks and should have that off shortly!!
Tags: diy, mei tai
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October 7th, 2009
I love the look of little waldorf dolls, and I’ve been thinking of making one for my daughter for her birthday. The most popular site online for buying kits seems to be Joy’s Waldorf Dolls, so I went to their site to pick out a kit. I guess Joy has decided to retire, and everything is on sale at 30% off! So one hand, I’m thrilled to get a deal, but on the other, I feel like I should stock up on supplies which is just silly because I wouldn’t even know what I’d need! Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know about the sale in case this is a project that interests you!
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October 3rd, 2009
I bought my first sling, a wrap, from a wonderful girl named Cassandra at Panda Pouch. She had me and Rowan come to her house and try on different slings. When we decided the wrap would work best for us (Rowan loved it right from the start), she took the time to show me different ways to wrap it, and then patiently helped me as a tried it a few times myself. It was Cassandra’s help that got me hooked on babywearing.
Cassandra since sold Panda Pouch, and recently the new owners decided to sell it as well. Can you guess where this is heading? Well, I’m THRILLED to announce that Daisy Days will be taking over for Panda Pouch. All of the great slings and pouches from Panda Pouch can now be purchased through Daisy Days, with the same excellent level of customer service that Cassandra gave me. Check out PandaPouch.com to see the selection, and let me know if you have any questions at all.
Tags: pouches, ring slings, wraps
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