Testing for Mother and Baby awards - Charlie Banana nappy review

Well now that I'm all done and my reviews are submitted, i can confess what i have been doing for the last month. I've been testing reuseable nappies, breastfeeding products and baby feeding products for the M&B awards!!!

I love my cloth, so it was great to get the chance to test some nappies that i wouldn't otherwise have used. My favourite by a mile were the Charlie Bananas. A really versatile one size nappy system that is brand new on the market, they come in a range of very funky colours and the choice of one or two reuseable inserts or a disposable one. Now i was a bit disappointed with two things. Firstly the disposable option. If i wanted to use something which is peed on and thrown in the bin I'd give my money to Pampers or Huggies and basically throw it in the bin. I don't see the need for a reuseable nappy with a disposable insert (paper liners are ok in my opinion, as they are flushable and biodegradable). And the reuseable inserts are microfibre, where i would have preferred a more natural option such as bamboo. But neither of those things takes away from the fact that these nappies are fabulous! The sizing system in a step away from all those "Popper down to make smaller" nappies. Instead it has buttonhole elastic running down the sides, and you do it up on the relevant hole for the size. Its very easy to do, and because its hidden away the asthetics of the nappy are much improved. I will add pics when they are out of the wash :)

I found the fit on my skinny-baby-with-pot-belly-and-chunky-thighs very good, with no leg gape and no cutting in either. She seemed to love them too, posing happily for me to take her picture!

They were very generous with their testing kit too. I received 3 nappies with both inserts, a pack of disposable inserts, a wetbag and some reuseable wipes. The wipes feel supersoft and work great, so i had to give them a mention too :) Whilst they are not "pretty" like the WAHM wipes you can buy they do the job very well.

I have emailed Charlie Banana to tell them how much i love their product, and they have promised to let me know when they go on general sale in the UK and where will stock them, so i will update as soon as i know. Trust me, if you love cute funky cloth, you need some of these :) Plus i hear they do funky boy prints too, very hard to find! 

But until then, i am rather enjoying having the jump on the rest of the cloth nappy UK community ;)

Kelly.x

Analytical Armadillo: Brugo Mug Giveaway!! International Offer

I'm loving these mugs, flamingo pink is my fave :) I've often left my tea to go cold because Baby pickle needs a feed, and wants it RIGHT NOW, so this would be the perfect solution for me.

I think i may have to buy one if i don't manage to win one :)Analytical Armadillo: Brugo Mug Giveaway!! International Offer: "Ok I said when I got 300 Facebook fans I would give a nifty little something away - so how about a couple of Brugo Mugs? One thing I disti..."

Summer holidays are over.......its been a busy one!

So thats that over and done with! I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad. Glad to have time to draw breath though thats for sure!

Me and the Pickles have been busy over the last 6 weeks. I have completed Boy pickle's hoodie, and dyed up more BV for one for Big Little pickle. We've made sock monkeys and various bags, baked, iced and knitted. It's been fun :)

But now we are back to reality. School runs, and morning dramas. Forgotten lunches (Big Pickle) and lost glasses (Boy pickle). Theres never a dull moment in this house.....I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Just some of our creations :)

Stay crafty,

Kelly.x

When you wish upon a star........

Tinkerbell
Originally uploaded by keljbj

I've had this costume tute saved to my favourites for ages, ever since the Hubby stumbled across it whilst searching the net for something completely unrelated lol. Big little pickle is into Tinkerbell in a big way, so it seemed ideal for her. I ordered the fabric from fleabay (one-stop shop for all your fabric needs ;)) and had cut out the body piece, but then got distracted by other projects!


So last night, whilst the Hubby was playing with his virtual friends on the x-box (as he is right now, and always :/) i took the plunge and finished it off.


I'm quite pleased with it, although she complained that the tutu was itchy, and as usual wouldn't smile for a photo!

Tutorial can be found here, although i did make some modifications.

Big little pickle inspired piddle pad, AKA the Pickle pad

Camera Plus
Originally uploaded by keljbj
So last night we are driving back from Tesco. Big little pickle, recently potty trained, pipes up with "I need a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". So the Hubby and I say all the usual stuff, "We'll be home soon", "Big girls hold it and don't wee in their knickers" etc. But Boy pickle has other ideas. He whispers to her (we found out later) that it's ok to wee-wee your knickers as long as you're sitting down. So we get home to a very wet little girl......and a sopping carseat.

So, while the Hubby puts the shopping away, there i am wrestling with the thing, trying to extract the covers for washing. I can tell you now, Britax should branch out into costumes for escapologists. It's all but impossible to get those things off! Eventually, much child-friendly expletives later, i manage to free the seat from it's clothing, and in the wash it went.

But i was left pondering. There must be an easier way. So, an idea forming, i dug through my fabric boxes and came up with the equipment needed to make a pee-proof liner for the carseat. And hey presto - the Pickle Pad was born!

It took me half an hour to cut out and sew. I did have a few issues, it's not the tidiest it could be, but it fits in the seat and, hopefully, does the job :)

I will post a tute with how to make one if i ever get another minute to myself!

Baby pickle is now waking up from her nap, so my peace and quiet is shattered!

Stay crafty,

Kelly.x

Soap felting

Yep, it's me again :) Today Big Pickle and I have been felting soap. We had great fun, with froth and bubbles going everywhere. Big Pickle has been a bit.....grumpy lately, flying off the handle over every little things and doing the whole pre-teen "Everyone hates me" thing, so it was nice to spend a little quality time, just us. Never mind the fact that she got soap bubbles in my hair, leaving me looking like the abominable snowman, we bonded.....job done :)

The soap itself could have gone better, but i think for a first attempt we didn't do too bad! Next time i might let Boy Pickle and Big Little Pickle have a go. I may need to invest in full-body waterproofs first though ;)

Dyeing and patchwork........and children running wild!

Well the summer holidays are here, and with them comes the rain! I'm sure the elements conspire against me, ensuring i'm cooped up in a very small house with four monsters who just want to go outside.

Still, bad weather means plenty of crafty time. The big pickle and I made finger paints the other day, using a recipe kindly posted on the Cloth Nappy Tree forum. It didn't go well to be honest, we ended up with coloured jellified gloop, but it got her out of her pre-teen "I'm leaving home" strop, so alls good :)

I have been doing some dyeing. I had some bv arrive (finally) from fleabay, so of course i didn't waste any time getting it in a dye bath! I had some room in my tub so i threw in some scraps of material i had left over from upcycling a few old t-shirts into bags (will post pics and how i did it another day), as well as one of the Hubby's old white tees, which i intended to upcycle into something nice for one of the girls. The bv was intended to make an Imke hoodie for Big Little pickle, a pattern out of my birthday-present book, Sewing clothes kids love (by the ladies behind Farbenmix and Studio Tantrum, home of some of my fave patterns). But it didn't turn out quite as girly as i expected, so i think it's now going to be for the boy pickle. Luckily the pattern can be for either gender lol.

On the plus side, the Hubby's t-shirt came out very funky, and he immediately nabbed it back for himself.

My other new project is a patchwork taggy for baby pickle, using some fab scraps i got from Ems at http://www.puddlekins.com/shop/ . I can't finish it properly yet, as i'm waiting for some minkee from a co-op to go on the other side, but it's nice to feel i'm making progress :)

Not sure how much bigger i'll make it, i've got loads of scraps left!

I will attempt to update with pics of my progress on the hoodie, children allowing :)

Keep crafty,

Kelly.x :0)