A revamped Facebook Store - I'm learning to set up as I go

I'm not the most savvy with Social Media. Believe it or not, I don't even have a data plan on my phone! So setting up my little shop on Facebook is quite a learning experience. I just revamped my little shop and now I have created a button for it:

So if my dear blog followers have some time to give me some feedback on my dismal attempt in setting up this Facebook store, I would greatly greatly appreciate it!

March is 'Travel Friendly' Month

This month's sewing/refashioning theme is Travel Friendly clothes/accessories. Our family travels by car frequently because we have close family/friends living about 700 km away. I'm used to packing the absolute essentials for myself from 4 days to 4 weeks. The kids' stuff takes a lot of space already and in the winter with all the extra gears and layerings, it's even worse. We have done car travel with the kids in every weather conditions imaginable (shower, pouring rain, gusty wind, snow, sleet, whiteout, freezing rain, etc). All our clothes needed to be travel friendly for all occasions - including outdoor sporting activities, and sadly including funerals which we unexpectedly had to attend a couple of years ago.

This month we will have to do the long car travel again. The packing is even more difficult when it's in-between seasons. I already have lots of self-made travel friendly clothes but I would like to add some variety to it. I will also be posting my Travel Packing for this trip later this month.

So have you sewn a Travel Wardrobe for different seasons? Are there any particular Travel Friendly garments that are musts for your trips?

We're back....again!! And a note about the refashioned sanitary pads....

Yup. My computer has been out of commission again! I think I really need to invest in some hardware this time. Geez! I'll need hubby's help to shop around to see where the best prices are. Until then I'm only getting computer time intermittently.

The refashioned sanitary pads are still being used exclusively. I haven't bought any commercial sanitary pads at all. Now that I have used the self-made ones for a few months, I can see that I need more than 10 of them. Since they don't have that 'dry weave' on top like the commercial pads, I need to change them more often on heavy days. So I think I'll have to make another 6 or so just to cover those days without having to do laundry every night. The good thing is, I have another organic baby change pad. When I bought them I didn't realize they came in two. It was useful to have 2 for my babies then and it's useful for me now. How great is that I am able to upcycle both of these hard to upcycle baby gears!

Now if I can just figure out new uses/purposes for all the other baby gears.....

We are back....and some DIY toiletries....

My laptop had been giving me major problems this past month - problems so bad that it was unusable. I was barely able checking my emails on hubby's computer (which he is using all the time) each night. While I was moving it around a few days ago I dropped it on the ground, and then incredibly, it started working like before again! I still don't know what caused the problem but I'm backing up everything in case it decided to stop working again. Oh how I love and loathe technology!

I have been doing a little bit of sewing and will post those projects soon. In the meantime, I have been trying to figure out how I can further reduce my carbon footprint and live a less toxic life. My preschooler will be going to some summer day camps and one of the location is about 30 min brisk walk from my house. It's actually not that far but since there are major construction happening in my neighbourhood, I'll need to take the long way around which takes about another 12 minutes more than necessary. I think in the mornings when he is going to that day camp, I'll try to push the stroller (with my toddler sitting in it) while my preschooler is standing at the foot rest at the back. That will save me a car trip and will be a good workout for me. I think I'll use the car when I pick him up at noon because it'll be way too hot to do that trip again for everyone. I don't want the kids or myself to get a heat stroke.

I have also been using my homemade toothpaste for a few weeks. I think it's working out great! I noticed that my teeth appeared whiter even only after 1 week of use. I checked many DIY blogs and it seemed that most recipes are 50:50 Coconut oil and Baking Soda. I also added drops of Peppermint and Spearmint essential oils to get that fresh taste in my mouth. The toxins in the commercial toothpaste has really scared me after I read about them on the Environmental Working Group site. I go to that site very often, not only to read up on the hazard levels of different commercial ingredients, but also to copy the ingredients of those that the site approve of to make my own concoctions.

The only drawback (and it's an annoying one) is that my sink is a bit plugged by all the DIY toiletries I'm using. They are all based on Coconut Oil or Olive Oil. I'll try to use a Vinegar/Water solution to spray everything down every night and see if that helps.

Next I'll be making the DIY deodorant with what else but what I have stocked up already - Coconut Oil and Baking Soda and Lavender essential Oil. I'll also be making the DIY Insect Repellent with Citronella essential oil and sunflower oil. Will report on the effectiveness of those soon!

Thank you shellybean for the Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you Shellybean @ Follow me Home for passing on the Versatile Blogger award! This is my first Blogger award too! Thanks Thanks!

 Here are the Rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Add the award to your blog. 

2. Thank the person who presented it to you. 

3. List seven random facts about yourself. 

4. List the rules. 

5. Pass the award onto seven other bloggers. 

6. Inform each blogger they have won by posting a comment on their blog

Seven Random Facts about Myself:

1. Interior Decoration was my first love. I spent all my pocket money since age 6 to buy Interior Decorating Magazines and books. I was actually studying for an Interior Decorating certificate part time until the Programme Director told me that the graduates earn $8 an hour at the Sears Home Store (and those were the lucky ones apparently).

2. I have had my hair in the same style for almost a quarter of a century. I can't do anything with it and I'm too lazy to try to style it. So it remains the same natural way.

3.I once trained 8 hours a day for Kayaking competitions when I was young. Definitely no too healthy for my body.

4. I have been refashioning/upcycling/repurposing for years before I had heard those terms. My friends/family just thought I was being cheap.

5. I have loved Artistic Gymnastics since I was a wee child. I am glued to the TV/Computer during every Olympics Gymnastics competition. I would record it and watch it over and over again.

6. I love sewing now. But I detested it and did horribly during Home Economics classes in my teens.

7. I have way too many hobbies and interests than I have time to do them. Unfortunately I also need more sleep than an average adult. This is not a good combination! 

I follow many blogs and am constantly amazed and inspired by the creativity I find in the blogsphere. Here is just a small list of the ones I read often (in no particular order). Check them out!

1. Charity Shop Chic

2. The Vivienne Files

3. Miss P

4. So...Zo what do you know

5. Eric B's DIY style

6. A Femme d'un Certain Age

7. LittleCleo at Home

Long time no blog.....ECing a 9 month old baby

It's been a while since I have blogged. One of our dear elderly family members has fallen seriously ill since before X'mas and to make a long story short.....our lives had been turned upside down for a while. The patient's situation has not yet stabilized and thus I had very little time to go online lately, not to mention blogging.

I did some refashioning before the illness but I just have to get the photos sorted before I can post them. I am planning to do that in the next week or so.

ECing my 9 month old baby has been a challenge. All along she had been pretty compliant in terms of sitting on the potty at regular times to pee/poo. However in the last month she started to want to stand assisted all the time and even tried to pull herself up (and fell). So she had been crying/screaming every time I tried to put her on the potty and refused to sit down. Needless to say, she had pooed in her diaper a few times already and she cried afterwards because she didn't like sitting in her poo. I haven't had to clean up her poopy diaper for so long that I'm a bit annoyed by it as well. I have read in other moms' blog that this was likely to happen, as the baby becomes more mobile. I just have to keep trying and hope that she will eventually find something else to 'rebel' about! LOL.

My Refashion project was featured on Craft Gossip

I just found out that I was featured on Craft Gossip! Wow! I was googling something and found my swimsuit refashion featured on the Craft Gossip website. Wicked!

You can see the article here: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-turn-a-too-long-swimsuit-into-a-faux-tankini/2011/07/08/

I'm back to blogland

After an intense month of taking care of a newborn and trying to recover from the birth, I'm back to blogland. No refashioning to speak of for this month, but I did add lining to my son's bedroom curtains. He is very light sensitive and would not go back to sleep if there is any light (however dim) filtering from his curtains. The lining is not completely blacking out the room but is making the room slightly dimmer, especially now that the days are longer.

On another note, I just starting ECing (Elimination Communication) my 1 month old daughter tonight. I was going to start when she is 2 months old (after I have gotten enough sleep and that her schedule is more stable) but I thought I would try to tonight. I held her over the toilet right after a feed and she poo'ed. Woohoo! I know this is more work for me than anything. But she already has a few diaper rashes so I thought ECing her might help her poor bum. Even if I only do it after a few feeds during the day, that's still progress in my book. We'll see how that goes!

I have joined Refashion Co-op

I have joined Refashion Co-op blog as one of the contributors. I was a big fan of Wardrobe Refashion blog and was sad to see it go. I have been so inspired by all the talented people in the Refashioning community. I made some of my refashioned clothing using similar methods seen on the Wardrobe Refashion blog.

I'm so happy to see that Refashion Co-op is continuing with the Refashioning movement! Check it out on: http://refashionco-op.blogspot.com/ and get your own inspiration!