Whew -- They're *done*

Ok, first, before I say anything else about my awesome organics that I'm about to showcase, I wanted to say one thing: Go Gators! It's truly a great time to be a Florida Gator -- especially with Tebow coming back next year (along with... maybe.... crosses fingers.... Harvin and Spikes?). Let's go for three out of four, boys!!! Just in case you didn't really know how much I love the Gators, here I am kissing a "bull gator" out in front of our 'new' (at least to me) football complex. Gator Nation at the top again, baby, and life couldn't be better!!!

Ok... now for those of you who aren't either a) a Gator fan or b) into college football, I am progressing well on our organic line. I've decided to name our line The Sun and Moon Collection, as the blue Harmony Art print is titled Moon and the Fields of Honey print is bright and sunny enough to pose as the sun. The only things I have left to work on are the lounge pants that will be made out of the same materials and the toy blocks. Let's take a look, shall we?

First up is our It's Sunny To Be Organic Bib (or just Sunny, if you'd like), sized in a large and closed with a pearl snap. It's made out of extremely soft and absorbant organic, beige fleece (back) and the Harmony Art Fields of Honey print on the front. It's sewn together with 100% natural, un-dyed cotton thread. With bold orange on a cheery, yellow background, this bib is sure to brighten everyone's day. I will be putting these on both Etsy and Art Fire within the next few days and they'll be priced at $12.00.

Next up is Sunny's sibling -- When Baby Loses His Diaper, There'll Be a Full Moon Organic Bib (or just Full Moon), is also sized in large (which, by the way is 8" x 12" and fits children up to toddler-hood) and closed with the same pearl snap. It's also backed with the super-soft fleece and sewn together twice for added durability (all of our bibs are). This will also be priced at $12.00 on our websites. Our bibs are prewashed with Seventh Generation natural, perfume-free detergent and tumble-dried without the use of a softener or dryer sheet.

No purchase is complete without one of our burp cloths. I had to tweak our burp cloths to eliminate the use of commercial cloth diapers but it doesn't mean these are substandard -- actually, I think they're better!! On the front side you have your choice of either our Sun or Moon motif while the back is a heavy-weight, organic flannel. Instead of a cloth diaper inside, we filled it with 100% all-natural, unbleached cotton batting and added an additional 4" strip down the center for hard-core babies. Our burp cloths are stitched three times -- we serge the inside -- for added durability. These have also been prewashed in Seventh Generation detergent. These will be priced at $14.00 each, or 2 for $25.00.

We're also offering the two fabrics in our small snuggle blanket line, which we've recently named Take-Me-Too. The front is a four-block arrangement with one block of sherpa, one block of fleece and two blocks of either the Moon flannel or Sun sateen prints. We back the blankets with a super-soft and thick organic flannel and stitch it twice with 100% natural, un-dyed cotton thread. Instead of using a traditional ribbon as a tag, we sewed together a tag out of the Harmony Art prints. They are wonderfullly soft, terrifically durable and super snuggly, and they're priced at $30.00.

Oh, don't forget our onesies!! We took the sun and moon theme one step farther by designing onesies that fit perfectly. Choose from either a crescent moon or a sun, and we'll applique it on to a onesie for you. We start with 100% organic onesies by Bella (retail $12.00), take the organic Harmony Art prints and sew them on with all-natural cotton thread. No glue or adhesives were used, in keeping with the organic theme. This means that the edges of your applique will fray a bit, but that's supposed to be part of the charm! Our onesies retail for $18.00 -- you can also choose our Earth applique, made entirely out of recycled felt.

What's that, you say? You'd like to package this up and send it as a gift? If you purchase multiple organic items, you're entitled to a discount!!!

Buy two items, save 5%.
Buy three items, save 10%
Buy four items, save 15%
Buy five or more items, save 20%.

Simply contact us for a custom listing and mention you saw our promotion in our blog to receive your savings!

So, what do you think? Good, bad?

Organics will soon be here!

Hello everyone! I am SO EXCITED!! Why, you ask?

Well, my organic fabrics arrived a few days ago and they rock (well, with one exception). The Harmony Art prints are as soft as they are beautiful and they wash extremely well. The organic is thick and as soft as the fleece, which is fantastic. The fleece isn't as thick as I thought it would be -- it's not like the blizzard or anti-pill fleece you find in stores, but it's still a great fabric. The sherpa, though, is a whole 'nother beast. I can honestly say I hate it, hate it, hate it.

Oh, don't get me wrong... It's thick, soft and super snuggly, but it's a bear to work with. First, I wash it (in Seventh Generation 100% natural, perfume free soap with no fabric softener) and it shrinks an ungodly amount -- I lost something like 20% of the original amount. I ordered one yard, which was 54" x 36" and I *might* have been left with a width of 40" when the washing and drying (tumble dry low) was done. I was ok with that, but that stuff is monstrous to sew. Talk about distortion -- I thought minky was bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to the sherpa.


Want to see what I'm talking about? Look at that serious distortion -- I'm meticulous about cutting out my squares exactly, I pin things in place to keep them from shifting, I sew slowly and I'm just careful, overall, to ensure things are in place. Sewing cotton is easy-peasy, I don't even pin that... but minky stretches, so you've got to be careful if you're not using stabilizer or interfacing (which I don't). Ugh. I'm seriously rethinking the sherpa now because it's major effort to sew and I'm afraid it'll shrink *again* when someone washes it (hint: iron!). I'll post more pictures of these blankets once I put the flannel on the back -- they really are going to rock when they're done... I can't believe how soft all my materials are :).

Anyway, you should see the bibs! They're amazing and the burp cloths (filled with 100% natural cotton batting!!) are going to be fantastic. All I have to do is put the snaps on the bibs and they're done -- the snaps will be the *only* thing on the bib that isn't either organic or natural. My cotton thread is Gutermann's 100% natural cotton thread and the fabrics are certified organic.

Also, I'll be away from my computer until Saturday -- we're going up to Gainesville to hang out with college friends for the BCS National Championship game. Go Gators! :) :) :)

Pictures of my custom orders :)

Ok, so I promised you pictures and here they are:

The elephant burp cloth and bib set:





The University of Florida burp cloth and blanket set:





The paisley burp cloth, bib and blanket set:

Enjoy and let me know what you think!!!

Jen

We're busy as bees!

Man, the end of November and start of December have been crazy busy in the Jen Household portion of Made By Moms! My son turned three at the end of November, we had Thanksgiving, we took my son ice skating for the first time, the Gators played in the SEC championship and we went to Disney.

Wow. And I still haven't filled out my silly Christmas cards. *sigh*

Anyway, let's start with the ice skating! Holy funkiness, that was fun! It was his first time skating and, I must say for myself, he did a great job! For someone who learned how to walk a little over two years ago, it only took him an hour and a half to be able to propel himself forward (hanging on to the wall only a little bit!). His father isn't capable of much more than that (just kidding, hunny). He was so excited about it, he still won't stop asking when we're going back. What a great way to spend time with your loved ones during the holidays.

Then, there's Disney! We went over the weekend to celebrate my son's third birthday. We went to the Spectacle of Lights at MGM (now Hollywood Studios) and the Magic Kingdom over the course of the three days and had a blast. Perhaps the only disappointing part of the vacation was eating at the Brown Derby (in MGM)... it just wasn't what we expected -- the service was negligent and the food was abysmal... such an odd thing for me to say, as Disney often offers the finest dining in the Orlando area. I might write a true review in a bit, but let me briefly state how disappointed I was!!! I won't dwell on the negatives, though, because the Spectacle of Lights was AMAZING!! I swear, every year I see it, it gets better. The lights dance to music and this year they offered 3-D glasses to annual passholders for free, which were pretty neat.

We went to the ESPN Zone on Saturday to watch the Gator/Tide game, sat around, drank beer and watched football... you can't ask for more than that considering the GATORS WON!! WOO HOO!!! I can't wait for the Gators to meet the Sooners (sorry, Bob Stoops, love ya... always wished you well, but not against my Gators) in January!!! It'll be an awesome game.

Anyway, that's about it... I just set up shop on Art Fire:

http://madebymoms.artfire.com

And I have a MyCraft Site:

http://www.mycraft.com/madebymoms

The MyCraft site has another blog where I'll post favorite recipes and reviews of toys, etc. Plus... keep tuned for our newest line... the Jolly Rogers!!!

Jen

Contesterrific!

Ok, before I went on vacation I promised you all a contest. Well, I'm now delivering!!!

I'm posting this a few days ahead of telling everyone on Etsy so you can get your votes in first...

Here's the deal... I'm a huge Gator fan -- I graduated from the University of Florida in 2001 -- and I am psyched about our domination of LSU this past weekend. While I'm not exactly looking past Kentucky, because they are 4-2 losing to the Tide and SC (Spurrier has always owned the Wildcats, sorry, Kentucky), the game against Georgia is going to be huge... not as big as if Florida hadn't lost their minds against Ole Miss and Georgia was still undefeated (though their loss to one of the powerhouses in the country can be excused far more easily than Florida's funk against the Rebs), but it still has huge national championship/BCS bowl implications for the two teams.

So, what does that have to do with the contest? Well, it *is* the contest, in a certain sense. Here's the deal:

*You comment on this post, and this post only, by October 31st (the game is November 1st) and tell me A) who do you think is going to win and B) the total points scored between both teams.

*After the game on the 1st, I'll check this post... In order to win you must be the person who not only picked the correct winner but also came the closest to the actual point total. For instance, let's say Florida wins and the final score is 21 - 10... Whoever picked Florida to win with a the closest to the point total of 31 wins.

*In the event of a tie, the person who posted FIRST will be picked as the winner.

*I will list the contest as an Etsy purchase and the winner should "purchase" it within a few days. I will ship the prize to you as soon as I get the winner's information.

**Please note: This contest is only open to residents of the CONTINENTAL United States. Sorry :(**

So, what do you win? You win a fantastic burp cloth and bib combination in a beautiful blue toile fabric. The fabric has a whitish cream background with blue babies and is a super soft quilter's flannel. The burp cloth has a reinforced cloth diaper on the inside and the softest white minky on the back, while the bib has white minky and a button closure. The picture I have up is of the burp cloth and I will be adding a picture of the bib in about a week -- the picture below is of the burp cloth so you can see the style and quality of the fabric. This fabric is great for a boy or a girl, it really is unisex.

I will pay for the shipping to you, so no worries. I also have additional pieces you can add to this set, such as a small snuggle blanket and extra burp cloths that you (and only you) can purchase at a discount.

Good luck and Go Gators!!!!!!!!!!!!


By the way, this prize is worth $12.50 plus shipping... so it'll be worth around $18!! Even if you don't have kids, this would make a great baby shower gift!!! :)

I'll be seeing you....

Ok, I'm not really gone, gone... but I'm finally going on vacation -- yay! I'm driving myself and my son up to Atlanta to visit two of my best friends in the world on Monday.... and we won't be back until Sunday. It will be a welcome getaway especially since I get to see a little man who just learned how to walk AND a pregnant belly :).

I know, I know, you'll miss me (lol), but you can soldier on without me because when I get back I promise you a chock-full Etsy and Blog week. I'll be posting new items on Etsy and I'll be reviewing the items I received from NothingLikeIt. I'll be adding a fun fall recipe AND I'll be having a super secret giveaway and sale exclusive to my Blog readers.

Before I skedaddle, I wanted to bring up two things:

The first? GO GATORS!!!!! WOO HOO, TAKE THAT MIAMI!!!!! No, seriously, that was a fantastic game to watch (stop whining Miami fans, that was a good call). I've had to sit through seven insufferable years with my husband (an unrepentant fan of "The U"). I watched the smackdown in the 2001 Sugar Bowl with him, endured one of the most embarrasing losses ever in the Swamp in 2002, watched them dominate for 3 full quarters in 2003 only to watch them give away the game in the fourth quarter, then dealt with the frustration of buying Peach Bowl (Chick Fil A Bowl?) tickets and traveling up to Atlanta to watch the Canes crush the Gators (I still hate you, Ron Zook).

Through seven years and four horrendous games I had to listen to my insufferable Cane-fan husband and his Seminole-loving parents.

Finally, hallelujah, we beat them. Take that final-fieldgoal-when-the-game-was-meaningless (and for all you people who say it was uncalled for... running up the score is always uncalled for... FSU scoring 69 on a hapless I-AA opponent, anyone? ... talk to the NCAA and the crappy BCS system that values the difference in the score so highly, as evinced with Georgia dropped a spot to #2 after defeating their opponent handily last week). Redemption! Finally!!!

Ok, now that I've gotten *that* out of my system, the second thing I wanted to let you guys know about is the Orlando Southern Women's Show.

We will actually have a booth there this year -- we're featured in three places on their website. We are listed as a Green-supporter because of our efforst in recycling old fabrics, we are listed as a Charity supporter because we will donate 5% of our sales (not profits, but sales) to America's Second Harvest and St. Jude's Children's hospital, AND we're listed in the Great Deal's section because of our assortment of things under $25. For those who don't know about it, the Southern Women's show is a showcase of just about anything you could want. There's fashion, jewelry, food, gifts, pottery, art, candles, spa -- everything, it's awesome. There are cooking demonstrations, fashion shows and appearences by Jon & Kate Plus Eight stars Jon and Kate, "Jackson" from Hannah Montana and Doctor Phil.

Tickets are reasonably priced at $8 each ($5 each for children) and this includes a free year subscription to Ladies Home Journal. On their website there is currently a contest to win $250 to spend at the show, so go ahead and sign up for their promotion!!! Their website also has information on the times, show schedule and exhibitors who will be in attendance.

The show is being held October 9th - 12th at the Orange County Convention Center -- we'll be updating you as to where our booth is soon so you'll be able to find us and say hello! When we post our booth location, we'll also be uploading a printable coupon that you all can print up and bring to the show for a discount -- a special promotion just for our blog readers!!!

We hope that everyone in Orlando comes by and visits us there -- we're hoping for a huge turnout and a successful show.

We love you all!

Jen