Suuthe by Mari - Review and GIVEAWAY! **CLOSED**

In honor of my birthday and Labor Day I thought I would provide you guys with a great giveaway today! Keep reading to the end of the post to find out how to enter!

Since having kids, I have become much more aware of what is in the products we use in our home and on our bodies. I have really started reading ingredient labels and paying attention to what things are made from. I love finding products that are all natural with ingredient lists that I can understand because then I know if it safe for us or not. Recently I discovered a company called Suuthe by Mari that offers skin care products made with high quality natural and organic food grade ingredients and no addatives or fillers. That sounded great to me and when they offered to send me a couple of their products for review, I was excited to try them out!

Suuthe by Mari was started by Mari Carlin Dart when she was desperate to relieve her son's eczema and nothing else had worked. She came up with a salve that worked and when others began asking for her "magic salve," her business was born! Since then they have developed an entire line of natural skin repair products.

First they sent the flagship product of the business, the Skin Repair. We don't really have too many skin issues in our house, so I wasn't sure I would get a chance to use this for anything too quickly. The only issue we do have occassionally is that Sweetie gets very dry itchy skin in the crooks of her elbows. It usually last a couple days and I put lotion on it to try help it. Well, last week it decided to flair up so I put some of the Skin Repair on it and it was gone after one application! Sweetie said it was much nicer than the other stuff we've used because it didn't hurt when I put it on either! The Skin Repair can also be used for diaper rashes and since most of you know that we use cloth diapers, I had to ask if it was safe for cloth diapers. Well it is, so it is nice to have something around for if Lovebug gets a rash and I don't have to switch back to disposables until it clears up! There is a long list on their site of other skin issues that the Skin Repair is effective for.

They also sent me the Original Lip Balm. In the summer I get dry chapped lips from the sun so I tried this out right away and immediately noticed a difference. After a couple days of use, my lips were soft and smooth again! It is also effective for cold sores, which I get occassionally and I hope it helps me as well for those.

Both products have worked very well for us and I was also excited to read the ingredient labels and be able to understand what each ingredient is: Pure Emu Oil, Shea Butter, Organic Olive Oil, Bees Wax, Essential Oils: Lavender, Lemon, Chaomile Flower Extract-German Blue.

Other products that they sell include: Facial Skin Moisturizer, Natural Body Butter, Pure African Shea Butter, and Pure Emu Oil.

Interested in purchasing any of the Suuthe by Mari products? Head over to their site and check them out! Right now both sizes of the Skin Repair are on sale!

Interested in winning a tin of the Skin Repair? Keep reading! Suuthe by Mari has generously sent me a tin of the Skin Repair to offer as a giveaway to one of my lucky readers!

Please complete the mandaory entry first and then feel free to complete as many of the extra entries that you would like to. Leave your email address (non spam example: name at yahoo dot com) in each comment so that I can contact you if you win. I will verify all entries, so please be honest! The giveaway will end Sept 20, 2010 at noon and I will pick a winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to US residents (and yes even my friends are welcome to enter since the winner will be randomly drawn!).

Mandatory entry:
Leave me a comment and guess which milestone birthday I am celebrating today!

Extra entries (be sure to leave a seperate comment for each extra entry that you do!)

- Follow my blog publicly

- Subscribe to my blog (box on the left) and make sure you check your email to verify it!

- Add my button to your blog (leave a link to where you added it)

- Head over to Suuthe by Mari and tell me which other product you would be interested in trying.

- Subscribe to the Suuthe by Mari newsletter here (upper right corner).

- Leave a comment on the Suuthe by Mari blog (leave me a link to the post you comment on and the name you commented under).

- Follow Suuthe by Mari on twitter (leave me a comment with your twitter name)

- Tweet, facebook, or blog about this giveaway (you may do one, two, or all three for up to 3 entries and leave me a link to each one that you do)

- "Like" Suuthe by Mari on facebook (leave me a comment with your name)

That's a total of 12 possible ways to enter, so get started commenting today!

Suuthe by Mari sent me these products for free to review. I was not paid for this review and I get to keep the products. All opinions expressed are mine!

Getting to Know My Sewing Machine

I've been spending some time getting to know my sewing machine lately. Last year I received my grandma's old machine and haven't used it much, so I figured I should at least teach myself how to be able to sew a little. I found a few really cute projects to try out and thought I would try to share them here with you as I get them finished. I did not take Home-Ec in high school, so my sewing skills are very minimal. I think if I can manage these easy projects, probably just about anyone can!
I have a ton of scrap fabric around from when I used to make bandannas for my grooming dogs, so I have been trying to use some of that up. First I tried a few of these baby crinkle squares and these reusable snack bags. I forgot to take pictures, but both turned out really well. Recently Beth at Happily Domestic shared this link to some cute doll diapers that she made for her daughter, so I gave them a try for Sweetie to play with on her dolls. The first one that I made was pretty small and only fit a couple of her smaller dolls, so then I increased the size to fit some of her bigger dolls as well.

First I cut out the two pieces.

Then I pinned and sewed them together (wrong sides together) I left a 2 inch hole for turning inside out, which I whipstitched after turning the right way.

Then I sewed on the velcro and they were done! Easy as that!

Sweetie loves them and already has them on her babies!

Proudly linked to:

Washing Cloth is Easy!

If any of you are considering switching to cloth diapers (and I hope you are after reading this post!), but are still unsure, I am guessing one of the big reasons you don't want to switch is the laundry. So I thought I would join Mama to 3 Blessings as she hosts a link up post about how easy it is to wash and care for your cloth diapers. After you are done reading mine, head over there and read about the routines her and others have found to work for them.
I have found a routine that works really well for me, is really easy, and rarely creates issues of smells or stains. One of the most important things in my wash routine that makes it so easy is my diaper sprayer. If Lovebug has a dirty diaper, I take it over to the toilet, spray it off, and drop it in the diaper pail. I have never dunked, swirled, or soaked any of my diapers and haven't had any issues with stains. I store all used diapers in the pail until wash day. I use a garbage can size diaper pail lined with a pail liner and I actually leave the lid off and have never had an issue with smell. I wash 3 times a week and I just dump the whole pail in including the liner turned inside out and I never have to touch the dirty diapers that way. First I do a cold rinse. Next I add Rockin Green Hard Rock Detergent and do a hot wash followed by a 2nd cold rinse. There are many different opinions on which detergent is safe for cloth diapers and what is best with the type of water you have, and I have tried a few that are recommended by the diaper companies, but have found that Rockin Green does the best job of getting the ammonia smell out our diapers.
My drying routine varies depending on the weather and my mood. If it is sunny and warm enough, I hang the diapers out on the clothes line to sun them. The sun does an amazing job of removing any stains and bacteria. If it isn't sunny, I will hang all the pockets, shells, and covers on my wooden drying rack in the laundry room and then either toss everything else into the dryer for a while and hang dry what doesn't get completely dry or just hang everything right away.
Hopefully that doesn't sound too complicated, but it really is very easy. I have 3 set days that I do diaper laundry so it doesn't interfere with my regular laundry day or have to be done on Sunday, and it has become so routine and is much easier than heading to the store every time we are out of diapers!

Cloth vs. Disposables

I know that a lot of you will read the title of this post and quit right there, but if you have children in diapers, I would really encourage you to keep reading. I think you will be amazed at some of what you learn.

I admit, the reason I started using cloth diapers was to save money (and less trips to the store with 3 kids was also a nice plus!), but since then I have also learned a lot about how bad disposable diapers really are. Recently, Pampers came out with a new Dry Max diaper that has been causing a lot of rashes and other problems for babies and I have been reading a lot of articles and blog posts about Pampers telling a lot of lies to defend their diapers and disposable diapers in general. As I have read these, I have been amazed to learn how bad for babies and the environment disposables really are. Did you know that disposable diapers contain cancer causing chemicals that are no longer used in tampons and are banned in all countries but the US??? Why are we putting something like that on our children? Did you also know that disposable diapers will sit in landfills for 250-500 years? How is that being a good steward of the earth God has given us?

These are just a couple of the facts that really stuck out to me, but I would encourage you to read up for yourself and find the facts. If you are interested here is a great post on The Cloth Diaper Report and Dirty Diaper Laundry has done several posts, some with links to more news articles (you may need to read back a ways on her blog to find them all). The Real Diaper Association, a non-profit organization, also provides a lot of information.

If this at all convinces you to consider switching to cloth diapers, I would be more than happy to help you get started. For those of you who picture them as folded diapers with pins and plastic pants, I am very happy to inform you that there are many, many more options available than that and most are as easy to use as disposables (and much cuter too)!

Really, who can resist such cuteness?

Fluff Talk Thursday!

This week's Fluff Talk Thurday Topic is sewing your own diapers. Since I have zero experience with this topic and have never owned a decent sewing machine, you should head over to Happily Domestic and see what others have to say it.

Instead, I've decided to review a few of my favorite diapers for you.

First up has been my absolute favorite that I've tried, the BumGenius OS Organic Cotton AIO.
This is the most absorbant diaper I have used. Mr. Lovebug can wear it a good 3 hours without a leak. It is also very trim. I've only had it for about 3 months, so I didn't get to try it on a younger baby. It would probably be bulkier, but I think it still would be very trim compared to most one size diapers. I also really like that the layers seperate so it dries faster than most AIOs. The only down side to these is that they are fairly pricey compared to a lot of other one size diaper, but I think they are still worth it.

My next favorite is a toss up between Bum-Ware AIOs and Grobabys. I love the Bum-Ware because they are really really trim. They are also quite absorbant for being so trim. They come in velcro which doesn't have any back elastic and snaps which does. I usually prefer snaps for durability, but the back elastic on these left such a deep red mark across Mr. L's back that I prefer the velcro on these. It is a much stronger, more durable velcro than on any of my other diapers though and after tons of use, doesn't look one bit worn out. I also love that they come with a brown suedecloth inner which keeps Lovebug dry and also hides any stains that we might get. One down side to these is that they are sized so you have to buy multiple sizes for your baby. Mr. Lovebug outgrew our medium sizes ones a couple months back and I've been fortunate enough to win quite a few giveaways, so (sadly) I have not had a need to purchase the next size up. I really miss not having to stuff diapers though, so I might have to consider selling a few of our pockets to get some larges.I also really like the GroBaby diapers because they use the organic cotton like the BumGenius ones and are really absorbant. They are also quite a bit cheaper since you only have to buy 1 shell for every 2-3 soakers. They are nice to put in the diaper bag because they don't take up near as much room as other cloth diapers do. The soakers also take up less room in the laundry. One downside is that they are bulkier than I like, but I still like to use them around the house when it doesn't matter. And finally, my favorite nighttime diaper is the Blueberry OS Deluxe with an extra hemp insert. These have yet to fail me at night, we have never had a leak and Mr. Lovebug usually sleeps 11-12 hours. They are fairly trim for being a one size and having 2 inserts in, but he only wears them under his sleepers which have plenty of room in them.

I wish I was craftier and could sew my own diaper, but I'm just not. So for those of you who were blessed with the talent to sew, head on over to Happily Domestic to get some great info about it!

Fluff Talk Thursday!

This weeks topic: Stinky Diapers!

Beth over a Happily Domestic has a great post about stinky diapers from guest writer, Sherrie, owner of Itty Bitty Baby Bunz. It has tips about how to prevent and treat stinky diapers, so after you read mine, go check it out!

I haven't had too much of a stink issue with my diapers. Most of my diapers and inserts are made from natural materials that don't generally get stink issues, but I have a few microfiber ones that do occassionally have a smell. To prevent the stink from getting in them, I usually put a Downy ball filled with a little vinegar in the wash with my diapers and that seems to do a great job for me. I don't think my detergent (the Costco Kirkland Signature brand) is on any of the recommended detergent lists, but I have never had a problem with it. I also try to hang them out to dry in the sunshine whenever possible. If my diapers do start to stink, I strip them by washing them in hot water 4-5 times and then they are good to go again!

Fluff Talk Thursday!

This week's topic: Cute pictures of our little ones in their fluffy diapers!

Our GroBabys
Our current favorite, the BumGenius organic AIO. It's SUPER absorbant and very trim!
Lovebug in Bum-Ware a few months ago

Knickernappies One SizeOur favorite nighttime diaper: Blueberry deluxe one size

Fuzzi Bunz one sizeApplecheeks GAD Baby Thanks for viewing our cute fluff and don't forget to head over to Happily Domestic to see Beth's and others' cute kids in their fluff!

Fluff Talk Thursday!

This week's topic: My favorite cloth diaper store

I don't really have one favorite store, so I will list a few of the ones I've purchased from and what I like about them.

1. Abby's Lane always has free shipping!

2. Kelly's Closet has a great blog with a TON of info and great coupons to use in their store.

3. Bum-Ware has one of my favorite diapers.

4. Cute Caboose has some great deals and coupons if you sign up for their newsletter.

If you want to see which stores Beth and others like head on over to Happily Domestic and check them out!

Fluff Talk Thursday Friday

Sorry, I'm a day late, but I've been insanely busy and didn't get around to it yesterday. Better late than never though, right?

This week's topic is Cloth Diaper Accessories. My favorite accessory is definitely the diaper sprayer! I don't think I would have even attempted cloth diapers if I hadn't found out about the sprayers. It is a hose and sprayer (similar to the one found in most kitchen sinks) that attatches right to your toilet's on/off valve and it makes dealing with poopy diapers so easy. No dunking/swirling/soaking, just spray it off and throw it in the diaper pail! If you are looking to get one, Happily Domestic is having a giveaway for one right now! If you don't win that one, I found mine at Abby's Lane for only $31.99. It is worth every penny!

Fluff Talk Thursday!

Since I've begun using cloth diapers for my kiddos, I've had a few people ask questions about them: why, what kind, how many, how do you wash them, etc. And since Beth over at Happily Domestic is hosting Fluff Talk Thursdays, a weekly meme all about cloth diapering, I thought I would join in sometimes for any of my readers that are interested in learning more about it! After you are finished reading my post, click the Fluff Talk Thursday button at the top of my post to head over to Beth's blog and read what she and others have to say for the week.

This week's topic: Dad's on Cloth Diapering

In the 6 months that I have been using cloth, my husband hasn't changed a single cloth diaper. Until this week, that is. Since M is a dairy farmer, his job is pretty much 24/7, so even when he is in the house or spending time with us, I still take care of the diapering duties. On the few occasions that I have run to town, to the dentist, etc. and he has watched the kids, L hasn't need to be changed. I always set a BumGenius diaper with stretchy velcro tabs on the changing table since they are the easiest to use and tell him that it's there and it works just like a disposable. I guess I should have explained a little more in depth, something more like: it works just like a disposable, lay the end with the tabs under L's bum and fasten the velcro in front. When I got home the other day, this is what I found:

For those of you who aren't familiar with cloth diapers, M managed to put them on backwards! For his first cloth diaper experience, L thought he would break him in good and give him a nice stinky one to change. Actually, I was kinda surprised he even attempted to change it and didn't just leave it for me, so he gets points for trying! He very quickly lost those points though, when I later found the dirty diaper still sitting on the changing table for me. He claimed he "didn't know what to do with it" even after helping me install the diaper sprayer and watching me use it a few times. Being a dairy farmer, he is surrounded by poo everyday, you'd think one little diaper wouldn't faze him!

And for those of you who may have noticed, yes that is a lovely black and white stone fireplace. Very fitting that we have a fireplace that looks like a Holstein cow huh? Unfortunately, our cows are brown Jerseys, so it doesn't really fit in on our farm (or in our family room). If any of you have any great redecorating ideas, I would love to hear them!

Fluff Talk Thursday!

Since I've begun using cloth diapers for my kiddos, I've had a few people ask questions about them: why, what kind, how many, how do you wash them, etc. And since Beth over at Happily Domestic is hosting Fluff Talk Thursdays, a weekly meme all about cloth diapering, I thought I would join in sometimes for any of my readers that are interested in learning more about it! After you are finished reading my post, click the Fluff Talk Thursday button at the top of my post to head over to Beth's blog and read what she and others have to say for the week.

This week's topic is cloth wipes, what system do you use?

I don't use very many wipes a day, only 1-2, so I usually just wet the wipes when I need them. My wipes consist of baby wipes, baby wash clothes, and extra regular wash clothes that we didn't use. I keep them stacked by my changing table next to a squirt bottle of my solution. I add a drop of baby wash, olive oil, and tea tree oil to about 1 cup of water. I just wet each cloth as I need them, so that I don't have wet clothes around getting smelly and mildewy. I also keep disposable wipes around for when we go out, but have found that tossing the cloth wipes into the pail with the diaper is easier than trying to have a separate garbage for disposables.

Last week's topic was showing a picture of your stash, and since we were on vacation, I missed it. Our computer isn't working right now, so I can't upload a picture, so I will just list the diapers we currently have.

16 Bum-Ware size medium that L has just outgrown
3 one size Blueberry deluxes
3 Fuzzi Bunz one size
3 Grobaby shells and 9 soakers
2 Wahmies one size
1 GAD Baby size medium
4 AppleCheeks shells and 8 inserts
1 Booroi shell and prefold
3 Meduim Fuzzi Bunz
1 Knickernappies one size
2 BumGenius one size
1 BumGenius organic AIO
1 WeeHuggers AIO
1 Drybees AIO
3 Happy Heiny small trainers

To see Beth's easy wipe system, head on over the Happily Domestic and check out her blog!

Fluff Talk Thursday

Since I've begun using cloth diapers for my kiddos, I've had a few people ask questions about them: why, what kind, how many, how do you wash them, etc. And since Beth over at Happily Domestic is starting to host Fluff Talk Thursdays, a weekly meme all about cloth diapering, I thought I would join in sometimes for any of my readers that are interested in learning more about it! After you are finished reading my post, click the Fluff Talk Thursday button at the top of my post to head over to Beth's blog and read what she and others have to say for the week.

This week's question is: Why Cloth? What made you decide to go the cloth diapering route? Who introduced you to the idea?

With my first 2 kids I never even thought about cloth. I just assumed it was pins, plastic pants, and saggy, bulky diapers. After I had L, I found taking 3 kids to the store was not the easiest thing to do and started looking for ways to not have a reason to go to the store. Since we get our milk from the farm, eggs from the chickens, and most of the veggies from the garden, diapers were one of the few things I still needed to get from the store all the time. I looked online and was amazed at the diapers that were now available! I found a site called The Cloth Diaper Whisperer with a ton of info and 2 of the article on it gave me a few more reasons to switch to cloth: How much money can you save? and 10 benefits to using cloth. However, I was pretty overwhelmed with all the options and wasn't sure where to start. I ordered a few FuzziBunz one size diapers, but when I got them on L, I really didn't like how bulky they were and was about to give it all up. Then I noticed on Facebook a college friend's kids were wearing cloth in her pictures! I asked her to recommend a few brands to start with. She said Bum-ware and Blueberry were her favorites. I tried them and loved them! The Bum-Ware are sized so they are very trim and the Blueberry one size ones are so absorbent because they use hemp, and are still fairly trim.

I am so glad I stuck with it and switched to cloth. I wish I had looked into it when I had J and saved all the money we wasted on disposables for him and S! And cloth diapers are definitely a lot cuter than disposables!

Making the switch

After having L, I've found that taking 3 kids to the store is not the easiest thing in the world to do. (The car carts do make it easier, but still it can be challenging.) So I started looking into ways to cut out trips to the store. One thing that I always needed was diapers, so I thought I'd look into cloth, not really thinking I'd give it a try, but it was worth a look. I was expecting to find the old standard flat cloth, pins, and covers. Boy has there been a HUGE change in cloth! I found a TON of info and different kinds of diapers now available. The flat prefolds with pins and covers are still there, but there are also many that are just as easy as the disposables. Shortly after I found out one of my college friends uses cloth and she recommended a few brands and styles to try. So I decided to give a few a try. For a few weeks it was like Christmas around here for me. I was getting a new package in the mail every couple days. I was amazed at how soft all the diapers were! So I decided to take the plunge and switch to cloth. I know, you are all thinking "She's CRAZY!" but they really are as easy as disposables and WAY cheaper! After deciding which kind I liked the most, I made a large order and they finally arrive yesterday. Now I can finally quit wasting money on the disposables and save myself a few trips to the store all at the same time! (And for any of you mommies reading this who might be interested, please feel free to ask me more or click on one of the links on the right side of my blog!)