Teaching Cloth Diaper 101

This past weekend I taught my first cloth diapering class at my local children's consignment store, Grow With Me Boutique!

Grow With Me Boutique is very quickly becoming the go-to location for anything cloth diaper related - she's stocking up on multiple different brands and accessories so it seemed appropriate to help educate our community about the benefits of cloth diapering as well as show parents how easy it is to cloth diaper.

When I was initially looking into cloth diapering I was so overwhelmed with all the different options and didn't have a location close to me where I could actual hold a diaper to see how they worked exactly. We bloggers try our best to show off the features of each diaper we review, but sometimes you just gotta hold it in your hands and have a person talk to you face to face about what it is. With this in mind, I created my "lesson plan" and Grow With Me set up the event!

I was thinking that a group of 6-8 would be perfect; more than I could ask for. As the date to the class grew closer the attendance count kept ticking up and soon over two dozen were signed up to come!

My goal of the class was to introduce the different styles of cloth and to show everyone that every family is unique so there is no "right" way to cloth diaper. I started by giving a brief overview of the different styles of cloth as well as their pros/cons:

• prefolds and flats with covers
• all in ones
• all in twos
• pockets
• fitteds

I also covered accessories, wash basics and a little bit of trouble shooting. Some of the attendees were already experienced in cloth diapering so it was great to have them share their experiences, such as while I use the dry pail method, two other moms shared that they use wet pails and why it works for them. It was a great open discussion with tons of questions and it made the time just fly by. I was also able to give out samples of Rockin Green, Country Save, Motherlove Herbals, Earth Angel Mama Baby and Planet Wise even sponsored two prizes!

We also had a special guest appearance; my own "cloth diaper community star," Amy the owner of Buttons Diapers. Amy and I have worked together several times, through my own Buttons Diapers reviews and at the Mommie Mixer in 2013. She's somewhat local to me so it was fun to have her come visit and for a couple customers get to meet her.

It had been several years since I've taught a class so it was fun and refreshing to jump in again. I hope I'll get to do it another time soon!

Connect with Grow With Me Boutique 

to find more cloth diapering resources for Snohomish County!

Merry Fluffy Christmas #clothdiaper giveaway! #fluffyxmas

This post was originally published as a part of the Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaway Hop.

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Oh man - I may have gone overboard this month.

Christmas time is a time of giving and I am so excited to work with these awesome sponsors to get you these fluffy themed gifts just in time for the holidays.

Win a set of DoodlePants, to keep your cloth diapered cutie's legs warm this winter. You know you have a cloth diapered child when kids who aren't used to cloth diapers point and say "mama, she went potty."  ...Because butts that PUFFY normally mean they need a change. Am I right? DoodlePants have become a staple in our house when going out and attempting to keep Penny's really fluffy bum at bay. There are tons of styles, all of which are hard to choose from, but the fact of the matter is that they are perfectly fit for cloth diapered children.

So have you gone "full cloth" and use cloth wipes as well? You can win a prize pack of Planet Wise's own flannel wipes and a wipe pouch that is made just like their high quality wet bags. Read my review of their sport and travel bags as well as read about the time I got covered in hippo poop.

And who doesn't like miniature versions of every day things? My husband may have rolled his eyes at me when I told him that I got a cloth diaper for our Christmas tree (he and our bank account know all too well of my fluff obsession), but a little smile did creep across his face when he saw that it was a teeny tiny ornament that has working snaps and all! Even Penny asks for the "pa-da" (diaper/potty) ornament when she spies it. Check out my DIY Christmas Wreath that lets everyone know who comes to our door exactly how much I love fluff.

And finally - many of us are already familiar with what Shutterfly is and what they offer. As a part of this very fluffy prize pack, you'll get a promo code for a FREE 20-page 8x8 had cover photo book. Use it to create a FLUFFY BRAG BOOK! Immortalize those delicious baby rolls in a photo book along with sweet cloth diapers that you've been unabashedly flaunting. You know you do! (Discount code is valid until 12/27)

This giveaway has ended. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Are you interested in having your product, service or business featured on The Pierogie Mama? Contact me here.

Disclosure: Thank you to my wonderful sponsors for hosting this giveaway with me. The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize fulfilment. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with Shutterfly, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Open to US residents only, 18+. Shutterfly discount code must be used by 12/27. Unused codes at that time will expire and are not the responsibility of The Pierogie Mama. Use it or lose it!

2 #Christmas Themed #Giveaways in December!

In just a few short weeks I'll be kicking off two really awesome giveaways 

that help us ring in the most special time of year.

Want to win a prize pack of DoodlePants, Planet Wise, Weensy Baby

and a giftcode to make a Shutterfly "Fluff Brag Book"?

Or how about a matching mama & child apron set from Cupcake Provacateur,

a customized ornament from Chalk Treatment and a Beanilla Homemade Vanilla Extract Infusion Kit?

It all kicks off on December 1st and 2nd

so be sure you're following along via Facebook, Twitter and BlogLovin'.

See you then :)

If only Planet Wise wet/dry bags had been around in the 80's...

This post was originally published as a part of the Keep Cool in the Sun giveaway hop.
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When I was about a year old, my parents took me to the Calgary zoo. We were viewing the hippo pond, which at the time was a pit with a 15 ft wall around it and you could view the hippos below. That afternoon, most of them were lounging and sleeping - being boring old hippos. After a few minutes, excitement ran through the crowd as one got up and started pacing around. "Look the hippo is moving! Do you see the hippo?" parents would ask their children, who were delighted to see this mixture of a short elephant-cow thing walking around. 

My mother recounts that this hippo proceeded to back himself up against the wall, which was seen as pretty hilarious to the families watching. Unfortunately this particular hippo must have had an upset tummy, which is probably what instigated him to get up and move around a little bit. Within a few seconds, the squeals of glee quickly turned into screams of shock and disgust as black matter shot up the wall and up onto the crowd. You can probably guess what this mysterious black matter was. This story has been told many times, and each time my mother gets this forlorn look as she remembers the beautiful white dress I was in. My dad, with a sh*t-eating grin (ok, bad choice of words, but so fitting), explains how when he took his glasses off, his eyes had been protected and he had a line of poo where the glasses had been. My dress had to be thrown away, as no one was going to carry around a poopy dress for the rest of the zoo trip. And I'm not quite sure what my parents did with their clothes, but I'm assuming it was much more acceptable for a toddler to run around in her diaper and the adults just had to deal.

The kicker to the story is that after we got cleaned up, we passed by the hippo pond again (this time staying a safe distance away) - and it looks like the hippo was going for round 2.

In 2013, I'm sure it would have been a viral video sensation (or at least one of my parents would have snapped a shot with their phone, I know I would!). But this was the 1980's and film was to be reserved for good pictures. So sadly, no photographic evidence exists.

This was on my mind when we visited the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle last week. Had this been something that happened to Adam and I with Penny, the least I would have been able to do was save that pretty little white dress - because Planet Wise graciously gave me the opportunity to try out their Travel Wet/Dry bag and the Sport bag.

Planet Wise is well known for their incredibly well made wet bags that don't allow any leaks or stink to escape. After all, they're primarily used by cloth diapering families to store dirty diapers between washes.  Something tells me that hippo poop has a much stronger stench than baby poop, but at least it would have been something!Who wants to read about a collaboration between the zoo and Planet Wise to see just how stink locked the bags are? I just might be half serious...

We took the sport bag with us on our trip to the zoo last week (thankfully the hippos were not out that day!) and it was a really easy way to keep Penny's clean and used cloth diapers separated from the rest of the diaper bag.

Like all Planet Wise bags, the protection goes both ways - these bags aren't just for keeping your wet stuff away from your dry stuff.  They're also great for keeping things dry! The PUL liner maintains a protective barrier from both sides of the material.  So this is a perfect bag to keep on your back when at the water park and you want to keep a small towel or a change of clothes dry.

The small travel wet/dry bag also has great uses. My favorite use is having it be a safe place to carry my expensive face lotion while traveling. How many of you have had a bottle of lotion burst from pressure change while in your stowed luggage during flight and gotten all over your make up and hair brush? It's happened way too many times to me!  For mama-cloth users, you can use it as a way to carry your new and soiled pads as well.

Planet Wise has a ton of different products that will fit your needs - from wet bags, diaper covers, changing pads, pail liners, nursing covers and cloth wipes! They probably several hundred prints between all of their fabulous products.

To add to their awesomeness, Planet Wise has graciously offered one of my readers a set of their Travel Wet/Dry and Sport Bag in the print of their choice!


See what zoos The Pierogie Mama has written about!

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.

Disclosure: Thank you, Planet Wise for providing me with products to accurately facilitate this review.  I did not receive any financial compensation for this post.