Saturday, October 29, 2011

New - Items for Sale!!!

Man, I love my new sewing machine! I already have over 25 teething scarves and 10 teething rings ready to go for my Mom's group church bazarre and I still have a bunch of material cut and ready to be sewn. I've been having so much fun getting everything together. This last week, I decided it might be great to sell a few items on Etsy.

I now have a shop set up with Christmas gift sets as well as organic cotton teething scarves and teething rings. http://www.etsy.com/shop/aLittleDonnerwetter?ref=seller_info

Remember, babies get 20 new teeth and go through a lot of drool. Lukas just got his first tooth today at 5 1/2 months. I put him in a teething scarf every morning and change it whenever it's wet. I often get comments about how cute he looks in his little bandana, and normally bibs just don't look very stylish.

I also feel a lot better about him chewing on his little organic teething ring instead of a BPA plastic one. This tooth came in without any tears. Yeah!

If you need a gift for a baby for Christmas or are going to a baby shower soon, please check out my shop. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your support!!!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Pumpkin Pie Muffins (Two-year-old Approved!)

It’s been really tough trying to get my two year old to eat vegetables. These muffins started as an experiment to see if I could get my son to eat pumpkin, since he usually crinkles his face up whenever he has to eat any. He loved these muffins and kept yelling for more. Yippee! Another success story.

These muffins have a whole lot of pumpkin in them and are therefore really moist. They taste a lot like pumpkin pie, hence the name, and are so yummy you could almost eat them for dessert, even though they have little added sugar and a bunch of whole wheat.

Remember, if you are putting nuts in for little kids, you will need to either chop them up really tiny or grind them first.

I’m going to make these again soon. If you make them, too, let me know what you think and tell me if your little one also ate them as well.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

1 15 oz can Libby Pumpkin
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour
2 eggs
1/3 C oil
1/2 C brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 t Pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 C milk
1 C raisins
2/3 C chopped walnuts

Topping
1/4 C brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/3 C chopped walnuts

1. Mix the can of pumpkin together with the brown sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. For muffins, you really don’t need to get your mixer dirty. A good wooden spoon usually does the trick. When you are adding the eggs, just beat them in the measuring cup first with a fork.

2. Add the oil, milk, and spices and mix together.

3. Mix together dry ingredients and add to wet ones. Mix well with a spoon.

4. Add raisins and walnuts and then spoon into 12 muffin cups. I usually use two spoons for this, but you can also use a ½ cup.

5. In another bowl, mix together the topping ingredients: ¼ C brown sugar, 1 t cinnamon, and 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. Sprinkle this mixture on top of muffins.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. These muffins take a bit longer than most muffins because they are very moist. When a toothpick comes out nice and clean, your muffins are done.

7. Eat warm with butter and maybe a dab of honey. Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Baby Teething Rings

As you well know, my son Lukas is teething. In addition to teething scarves, my baby also needed something to chew on. So, I decided to use some of the leftover organic cotton material that I had to make some teething rings for Lukas.

These eco-friendly teething rings are made using hemp twine, natural unfinished wooden beads and organic cotton material. I put extra knots and seams in them to make sure that they are safe for a baby. I throw this teething ring in the washer every time I wash, since it is often soaked in drool. It still looks like new.

My little Lukas loves to chew on his teething ring, especially while he is sitting on my lap. Sometimes, I’ll even wear the ring on my arm, although usually he enjoys holding it.

If your child is really teething, you may need to make a few, because they can get wet pretty fast. Nevertheless, it’s worth it, because your child will love the combination of soft material and the hard wooden beads to massage their little sore gums.

If you would like to buy a teething ring, you can now get them on Etsy.com under handmade - organic teething ring.

Here’s the how to:

1. Cut a 5” x 40” piece of material. Fold it vertically with the wrong side outside and sew along the edge leaving about a quarter to a half inch of material. For extra strength, you can sew this seam twice.

>2. Cut a piece of hemp cord that is 2 ½ times longer than the piece of material, i.e. about 100 inches. Fold this cord in half and tie a loop knot in the middle. Sew this knot loosely on one of the open sides of the material at the seam (see picture).

3. Take the other open side of the material and turn the entire tube inside out bringing the right side of the material back on the outside.

4. Now scrunch the material back on the hemp cord as far as you can and make a knot in the cord. Thread a bead on one of the hemp cords and push it down to the knot. Tie a knot as close as you can above the bead using both cords. Now tie a knot in the material above and below the bead. Your knot in the cord will fall somewhere in the material knot.

5. Continue to add knots and beads using the same method until you are about 6 inches from the end of the material. Make sure you have one final knot in the cord. Cut the cord on both sides. Sew the ends of the material shut and then tie the two ends together as tightly as you can. For added strength, use a needle and thread to reinforce the last knot.

Now you have a happy baby. Finished!

Monday, October 3, 2011

New Teething Scarves

Now that Lukas has begun teething, it’s time for me to make some more teething scarves. Since he’s only 4 months old, he can’t quite sit up on his own, yet. This makes tying on a scarf a bit difficult. Therefore, these new scarves are all with kid-friendly snaps.

I’m in the process of making up a bunch of organic cotton teething scarves to sell on Etsy.com along with some other eco-friendly teething toys and stuffed animals. As soon as I have more pictures and items, I’ll post them here first.

If you need any baby gifts for Christmas, I’d be happy to help.

Here are three of my new scarves:

1. Simple – (picture of flower scarf)
Two layers of organic cotton with a snap at the back. Lukas has a few of these, so that when one is wet, I can quick change it with another one.

2. Double - (picture of airplanes in blue)
This scarf has an added triangle on the front for when your child is at the extreme drooling phase of getting teeth. This scarf is also reversible and made of organic cotton with a snap at the back.

3. European – (picture of cars in green)
Although it looks like this scarf ties around the back, it is folded like an accordian with snaps in the back and does not loop around the babies head, making it safer than tie around scarves. It is also tacked on the sides, so that the hanging strips stay in place.

If you would like to make your own teething scarves. Check out the How to under Feburary of 2010 or at http://kelley-donner.blogspot.com/2011/02/teething-scarves.html.