Fuzzi Bunz Wonder Wipes WInner

This is so SO late and I'm so SO sorry! Life just caught up with me and with my back out for two weeks time left me behind for awhile!

In any case, early in the morning on April 16th, I went to random.org and discovered that ISHA had won my giveaway.  I promptly sent her an email and then...silly me... forgot to post the winner here!

After TWO people emailed me to remind me to do so I've finally remembered!!!

So, belated congratulations are due to Isha for winning some amazing cloth baby wipes from Wee Little Changes.

Again, I'm so sorry this took me so long.  It's really been one (well two) of those weeks. 

FuzziBunz Organic Cotton Wonder Wipes review and giveaway from Wee Little Changes

Wee Little Changes is an adorable store located in North Carolina that offers such baby necessities as cloth diapers, burp cloths, bottles, crib sheets, and toys.  April, the owner of Wee Little Changes (and stay at home mom) strives to offer quality items in her store.  Also, she offers many natural and organic products such as Fuzzi Bunz Organic Cotton Wipes--which is what she sent me.

As far as her story goes, April has this to say:

 "My family and I own and operate Wee Little Changes out of Wilmington, North Carolina.  Being a SAHM has been so rewarding and I will be forever grateful for the time I have gotten to spend with my children. 

The most important thing my family has taught me is how to just live simply and enjoy the little things in life.  I think this quote captures it perfectly, “If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.”  -Lyn Yutang.  I hope when my children are grown, that they will be able to find joy in the little things life has to offer.  A parent’s job never feels complete, but with each new day comes with it an opportunity to learn, grow and love more than the day before.

Wee Little Changes is dedicated to provide quality (and cute!) products that are good for your baby, the environment and your purse.  I have done countless hours of research on all of our products, and each one has been tested by my family and found to be a winner.  Please let me know if I can assist you in any way or if you have questions or comments.  Thank you for the opportunity to help you and your family in some 'wee little way'."

Besides the fact that she offers a great selection of baby needs, I absolutely love that April offers FREE SHIPPING on her items.  It's the most frustrating thing to me when I go to buy some diapers or accessories that are on sale from a diaper retailer only to see another $5-$10 and sometimes more get added to my total.  In my opinion it makes all my effort to find a great deal for naught.  So, I always look for the things I need from shops that offer FREE SHIPPING.

I loved working with April.  She was very helpful, and patient with me and had great communication.  I will definitely buy from her in the future.  She's great with customer service and very encouraging as well.

She sent me some of her Fuzzi Bunz Wonder Wipes to review.

 They are one layer of soft, knit cotton, surged on the edges.  They are thin and soft to the touch, and have a natural beige color because they are organic and unbleached.

When I first saw them, I wasn't sure what to think.  I use my homemade, two layer flannel baby wipes and I've gotten used to them.  These are nothing like those wipes.  So I washed them, and then proceeded to put them in with my flannel wipes next to my spray bottle.

 When I went to use them with the spray bottle, the water reacted differently than it does with the flannel.  I didn't need nearly as much water as the bottle was spraying and it got everywhere.  Flannel is quite absorbent, and the thin layer of cotton was not.  So I decided to store them wet--which is a new thing for me... and I fell in love.

 Using these baby wipes is like using disposable wipes, only better.  Because they are thin, they form around your hands easily as you wipe allowing you to get in all the crevices to clean your baby's diaper area thoroughly.  They store well wet, and can be stored dry and used with a spray bottle as well, with practice.  They just need less water than your more absorbent wipes.

I put the wipes in my little plastic "Huggies" travel case--you know the one--you've seen it in most moms' diaper bags.  They fit quite well in there--all ten of them--and made for great travel wipes.

I decided to replace my stash of diaper bag flannel wipes with these ones, but then I liked them so much that I robbed my diaper bag to use them while at home.  So now, I'm to the point where I can't decide whether they'll travel with me or not.  They just go with me everywhere I go and I use them first.

If you're new to using cloth wipes, or even if you're an old pro at them, I think you should try these little guys.  All natural so they're the best material imaginable against your baby's skin, and amazingly easy so that diaper changing sessions go much more smoothly.  I highly recommend them to anyone who has chosen to cloth diaper.

And if you don't cloth diaper, I recommend them to you as well.  They make for great on-the-go washcloths for when you're feeding your baby pureed veggies and messy oatmeal, and for those "oops" moments when drool, spit up, or both find their way in places where they don't belong.  At my bible study the other night, I also discovered that these are great teethers.  I pulled one out and let my daughter chew and suck on it to her hearts content--watching her carefully of course, and having rinsed all my wipe solution away with some tap water.  Bunny's swollen gums couldn't get enough of the Fuzzi Bunz organic Wonder Wipes!

If you want some of these wipes for yourself, you can head on over to Wee Little Changes, and buy some--they're currently ON SALE for only $11.99, down from $21.  Sweet deal!

You can also try to win some here, since April has graciously offered a set to give away!

How?

Leave the following comments, making sure to include YOUR EMAIL on EACH ONE.

Mandatory entry:
 Follow my blog, then tell me one interesting thing about April's website at Wee Little Changes.


Additional entries: 
10 entries: buy something from Wee Little Changes and comment here (10 times) leaving your order number in at least one comment so I can verify your order.


5 entries: blog about it, and leave me the URL to the post.

2 entries: Follow April's blog.

1 entry: Become a facebook fan of Wee Little Changes

1 entry: Tweet about it and leave the URL to the tweet here.  

1 entry: Add the "Makin it" button to your blog

This contest will run from April 1st until April 15th because, well, it's tax day and I'd like to make that day delightful for someone out there!

Make Your own tissue/wipes case

The following is a tutorial intended to store dry baby wipes, tissues or napkins.  The dimensions of the case depend upon the item that you want to store.

I apologize that some of the pictures are dark. I prefer taking pictures without flash, but since I did this at night, I had no natural lighting to compensate.

When I first started to cloth diaper, I still held on to my disposable wipes.  Then I heard about cloth wipes.  I thought it was crazy for awhile, and mentioned them to my husband.  "Becca, that would actually be much easier than the disposable ones because I never have a place to dispose of them when I'm changing a cloth diaper.  It would be so much easier to just have some cloth wipes and be able to throw them in the wetbag with the diaper when they're soiled."  Since it was my husband doing the persuading, I was convinced.  I ran to my basement that very night, went through all my fabric scraps, and cut wipes out of flannel, stitching them together with a zig-zag top stitch (which is not the way I did them in my "Make Your Own Wipes" tutorial.  It's actually much easier but doesn't look as pretty when finished)

In any case, since I'd been using disposable wipes, I still had the disposable wipes case.  So, I stuffed my cloth wipes into that case... or tried to anyway.  You can't fit very many wipes in there.  So I decided it was time to find a different storage solution, and what's easier than storing cloth wipes than a cloth case?

Now, the fabric I'm using is for storing dry wipes. If you want to store your wipes wet, you might be able to try this pattern with PUL or some other waterproof material.  However, I'd recommend using a zipper or velcro to close it if you choose this method.

First, I had to decide on a design.  I drew pictures of how I wanted my case to appear, and then made measurements accordingly. 

Based on my design, you need one rectangle of fabric.  First, measure your baby wipes.  Mine are about 7" by 7".

Based on that measurement you can measure your wipes case pattern. I made my fabric 11" wide. That leaves an inch for seam allowances on both sides, and an additional inch on each side to allow for the thickness of stacked wipes.

The length of my rectangle was 13".  This allows for 4 inches on the bottom (a little more than the size of a wipe folded in half), one inch on either side to allow for the thickness of stacked wipes, and 3 inches inches on each end to allow the flaps to overlap (plus an inch for seam allowances on the rolled hems).

With the right side of the fabric facing down, you want to stitch a rolled hem on either end of the rectangle. 

When you're done with the hems on either end, your fabric should look like this:

Now, measure 3" on each end and fold that much of the ends inwards towards each other like so:

Your wipes case will look something like this, with the right sides facing each other. 

Stitch each end closed. 

Once each end is stitched closed, your wipes case will look like this.  It's 2 dimensional right now, and we need to add some depth to it.

I already decided that my case would be an inch thick.  So now, you need to put darts in the corners like so:

Pinch your fabric...

And then measure your desired thickness...

And draw a line as a guide for sewing your seam.

Now, stitch along that line. 

Repeat this process for all four corners of your wipes case.   The case will look like this when finished.

Now, turn it right side out, and you're finished! That was easy, huh?

¡Qué bonito!

Now, just add your wipes, tissues, napkins, etc, and you're ready to go.  In fact, my case just happened to be the right size for me to stick my little wipes solution spray bottle (that I got at Walmart for $.97) in there as well.  This is my travel case and it now resides happily in my diaper bag!

Now it's your turn! Have fun! Let me know how it goes!