Lumettas Masterpieces

So today I decided that I had to do something with the blank wall in our dinning room! I got two different ideas off of Pintrest on how to display your children's art work that they work sooo hard at making and are soo proud of it. I ended up combining the two projects into one.

First I went to our local Goodwill store and bought 5 big frames I spent a around $15 for all of them. Then went to Wal-Mart and got two cans of black spray paint for $0.96 each (to spray paint the frames) I also picked up a little thing of paint in the craft section for $0.57 ( to paint on the wall). You could do any color you want but i chose black because that is one of the colors in our decor in our dinning room!

When I got home I took the glass and pictures out of the picture frames and layed them all one newspapers out side. I painted them all black with the spray paint I bought at Wal-Mart.

While the frames were drying outside I went inside and started to paint the wall with the black paint.

After finishing all of the painting I took Aldis brown paper bags that we had and cut them to fit the backing for each on of the frames. Most of the backing of the frames I bought had a type of a foam backing so it would work perfect to pin in the items and I wouldn't have to go buy an more to to use. 

When that was all done I put the right backing into the right frame and hung them on the wall. 

Then let my oldest chose where he wanted  to put his wonderful art work.

Cloth diaper wash routine

New Cloth Diapers   
 With new cloth diapers I wash and dry 2-3 times depending on the type of fabric. You can use a cloth diaper after washing and drying it only once but it will not reach its peak absorbency until it has been washed several times. Washing 2-3 times when they are new is to remove the chemicals that are in them or on them from being made. It also increases the absorbency of the diapers. Some times the cloth diapers will quilt up don't worry about it-it is normal.



My Wash routine 

• Cold Wash. Place all your soiled and wet cloth diapers for a cold water wash.
• Hot Wash. Add recommended amount of detergent and wash in hot water.
• Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water.
• 2nd Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water.

Do not add anything other than detergent to your diaper laundry unless you are having trouble with stinky diapers.

Start Cloth Diapering!

What do I all need to start cloth diapering?

• Cloth diapers of your choice- when i started i got a few of each type not know what type i would like best! the number of diapers depends on the baby! Here is a chart I found on www.littlefornow.com.

	Wash Daily	Every 2 days	Every 3 days
Up to 6 Mos.	10-12	20-24	30-36
6-12 Mos.	8-10	16-20	24-30
12-24 Mos.	6-8	12-16	18-24
Potty Learning	2-4	4-8	6-12

• Cloth wipes if you chose! i chose to do cloth wipes after a few days of cloth diapering the main reason i switched to cloth wipes is because it was a pain to put the cloth diaper in the pail then go throw away the disposable wipes away and it was a bigger pain when the diaper had poo in it!! I made a few of my cloth wipes then i ended up switching to baby washclothes because I had a ton of them that were not being used. I also bought some from amazon  for $5.99 for a 12 pack. I have about 100 wipes and it is more than enough. I keep some in my bedroom in a wipe warmer with a solution and some down stairs in a old wipe container with the solution already on the wipes. I make my own wipe solution as well. It is very easy.

• Wet/dry pail - we use a 13 gallon garbage can with a lid and put a pail liner in it. It is in our bedroom and it honestly doesn't smell at all. ( I also wash diapers every other day or every two days)

• pail liner - I have two so that there is one in the pail at all times! Throw this right in with the dirty diapers in the wash.

• wet bags- I have a bout 6 I make sure I always keep two in the diaper bag.  These are what you put the dirty diapers in until you get home. and you throw these in the wash when you do the diapers.

• Detergent - I make my own cloth diaper detergent but HERE is a link to detergents and if they are safe or not for cloth diapers.

Types of Cloth diapers

There are different types of cloth diapers:

Prefolds- are usually made of birdseye flannel, cotton, gauze, hemp or velour. They may require pins or a snappie for a fastner. With prefolds you would use a wrap or a cover with them. I have some prefold but use them as an extra liner in a diaper or will stuff it in my pocket diapers.

AIOs/AI2s - these are my favorite! They are a onesize fits all you can change the size settings on them. They have elastic around the back and leg areas. Most times they are made with fleece, PUL, Procare, or wool (I dont use wool because i am allergic to wool and im  not sure if my little one is) making the outer layer waterproff. At nap time or night time we use a doubler to increase absorbency. The doubler or separate stuffer lays inside of an AI2. Usually fastens with snaps or hook and loop (velcro). I have both and like both   the velco make it easy and more like a disposable diaper and that is what i send to grandmas house when she watches the little one and/ or when my husband is home with them. Me on the other hand dont care i am proficant at both. 

Pocket diapers - do not requires a wrap or a cover - this feature is built in. These can come in one size fits all or a different sizes. These also have elastic around the back and leg areas. Most times they are made with fleece, PUL, Procare, or wool (I dont use wool because i am allergic to wool and im  not sure if my little one is) making the outer layer waterproff. Requires and absorbent stuffer material to be placed in the pocket before use. I love bamboo inserts in my pockets

There are also fitted diapers. i do not have any fitted diapers these require a cover. Outer and inner layers are not waterproof and may consist of many different fabrics types. Since the outer and inner layers are not waterproof you would need to either change more offten or use a cover with them.