"Moby" type wrap from a full-size bedsheet

Ha ha I look back at my last few posts and think why did I think I could actually get more things done ..So here is my now Quarterly update.  Sorry followers.

The shear reality of Cinnamon Bears pending  arrival in the next 10 days has me on nesting mode to get things done. I saw a pin on Pinterest about making your own Moby wrap by going to the fabric store  getting 5 yards of fabric and sewing them together and VOILA, a Moby wrap for a fraction of the cost.  http://www.rookiemoms.com/how-to-make-a-moby-wrap/
(this site also has a youtube video on how to use the wrap)
I like to be frugal and thought, why would I go the the fabric store when the thrift store will do me just as good.  So I went to my local thrift store, found a full size sheet in great condition for $3.99.

The fabric is a cotton Jersey type fabric I found. I made sure it was a little stretchy because I know with the "Moby" brand , the fabric needs a little give in it in order for it to be snug but not too snug.

I am not a  professional or good sewer by any means, and I know my husband would be impressed to see the sewing machine out on the desk. I am also at times impatient. Therefore,  I thought I would take the easy route and sew only what I needed to, using the bedsheets finished edges to my advantage. That, with being 37 weeks pregnant, I do not want to stand long..it hurts.

Alright enough talk , here is what you need to get started and get done. Took me about an hour.  Here is the condensed version;  Measure, cut , sew.. done..  scroll down for the detailed version.

Materials:
1 Full size bedsheet ( Jersey knit or stretchy fabric)
Pinking shears , scissors or rotary cutter
Measuring tape
Sewing machine
Pins

 

 For me I found that my table here is exactly a yard wide, so I measured like the ladies do at the fabric store using the table.
 I measured my sheet lengthwise. (if the sheet was on your bed it would be from the top of the sheet to the bottom.) The sheet was 3 yards long.

The width of my full size sheet (from side to side) was 75 inches wide. The instructions in the website says it needs to be 21 inches wide.
With these dimensions, it does mean that you have to cut the fabric to make everything work out.

I taped my measuring tape to the table so I could measure out the with of the sheet , pin it accordingly.  So that it would be 21 inches wide the whole length of the sheet.  Iron it and cut ( this may not be the way to do it professionally, but it worked for me. Notice the wood clamps..yea, that holds down the fabric so I can cut it.) For my Male readers... see, you CAN use tools and sew..and that is electrical tape holding down my measuring tape.

The sheet is LONG enough to make two- 21inch wide strips that are 3 yards long a piece plus a left over strip.
 Once sewn together,  that is a Moby wrap that is  6 yards long and 21 inches wide.
(With 1  left over 3 yard long  strip you can make homemade baby wipes out of. Or dust rags. )
 Upon more reading I found that some Moby wraps are made for those who are a little larger in size, and the dimensions in the website above, may not fit all very well.  I'm smaller my husband is bigger so I decided instead of cutting and measuring and more sewing than I really want to do,  I will just make it a 6 yard long strip of fabric.

Taking advantage of the finished edges on the sheet, I decided to match up the bottoms of the cut strips from the sheet. ( they are finished edges as well, so following the line to match it up was easy peasy.) Please excuse the big baby belly in black fabric..

Because you are sewing the bottoms together of the sheet, the top finished edge of the sheet will become your "Moby" wrap ends.  (I chose not to sew and finish the  left edge right now that I cut  with my pinking shears. If you look at the right of this wrap, the other side edge is finished as well already because that would be the sides of the sheet)

So..ALL DONE! I now have a "Moby" wrap that I made from a full size sheet that I did try out using Boo Bears' Raggedy Ann doll. I will certainly post a pic of the finished product , in actual use here in about 11 days!

Here is the Front, with Raggedy Ann. The doll  is up pretty  high, because the baby bump is totally in the way.

 

This is the Back, I did not have time to make the back look perfect in this photo and even out the fabric for eye appeal, but you get the jist.

DIY - No Sew Belly Band

Why buy new when it can be made by YOU?  So since you are pregnant about 40 weeks,  I am almost 5 months pregnant in these pictures, and Maternity clothes seem to be twice the amount of regular clothes, It makes me scratch my head when others go out and purchase clothes that may be worn for only 4 months. So in my Pinterest addiction, I found a website called DIY Maternity.  They have some great DIY stuff from making your own nursing pads to taking your significant others button up shirts and making them look adorable on you.

I am now at the stage where I really want to wear my jeans, but those lil size 2s are not going to fit anymore. You can pay  26.00 retail to buy a Bella Band. OR you can save money, and like me spend nothing, and use that money for say.. a pedicure.

So with all that being said here is the link to where I got this idea http://diymaternity.com/pants-skirts/how-to-make-a-no-sew-belly-band/


Now instructions for a No Sew Belly Band
You will need

and old tank top
pair of scissors

Take your tank top, lay it flat, cut off the top of the tank top and VOILA a  New sew belly band.

 I folded mine down a bit for comfort

 Update  1-5-13
This worked well for the remainder of my pregnancy. and post partum.  I highly suggest using a cami or tank top that is smaller than what you normally wear or tight on you or that made of a stretchy type fabric.  My hips grew one pant size so those jeans in that pic.. are being given away. I ended up wearing yoga pants mostly by pregnancy week 38 and 39.  The belly band was still able to be used since by that point my shirts were too small. Oh the joys of pregnancy!

Im Back ..with a Surprise!

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have been on and blogged. There is a reason for it.. As we found out that we are expecting our 4^th little bear in this House of Bears. Cinnamon Bear is HER name in October . Yes it is a girl as of now , we will see what the next ultrasound says. Boo Bear , Teddy Bear and Gummy bear are excited to have a new sibling join us this fall.

Well I have not posted since January. Now that I am in the second trimester, I thought  this is the best time to catch up on Confessions of a Theta Mom.  I have been compiling some ideas especially for saving money on baby needs, and comparing costs for making items or buying items.  Keep on the lookout for some new posts, and bear with me as I get them posted and still learn this blogging thing.

  The new posts will be including things like making your own cloth baby wipes, or disposable wipes, making crib sheets, nursing pads,  belly bands and so forth. I will not just be focusing on baby but adding posts about older kids and summer activities. Also some more household DIY things, like up-cyclying  to make a new master suite look and bathroom.  

The plan is to do a post every other week. So keep checking back for new things. :)

Homemade Dishwashing Detergent and Rinse Aid

 Hello friends, it has been a bit since I have been online. I started a new early morning part time job, so between kids, house, hubby, work and church, I have had little time to blog..So finally here is my post on Homemade Dishwashing Detergent! 

I was very excited to run out of my store bought detergent so that I could try this out. So instead of going to the store, I decided to make my own. I found the recipe online. Thank you The New Homemaker!
http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/dishwasherpowder

I used:
1 cup Borax
1 cup  Arm and Hammer Washing soda  * Not baking soda!!
1/4 kosher salt
2 lemonade kool-aid packets. ( or 1/4 cup of citric acid)
Put in 1 TBS per Load

Rinse Aid:
Vinegar


 Since I made my homemade laundry detergent I already had what I needed to make this. Stir mixture well.  Put in a seal-able container. I put mine in a large yogurt container and added a measuring tablespoon to the container. I put a masking tape label on it, with the name "5 Bears Dishwasher Detergent" and wrote "1 TBS Per Load"

I had done some research on it and some say that most "green" products like this will leave a cloudy residue on the clear plastics. I did not have that issue. I use vinegar in the rinse aid compartment and it seems to do the job of  rinsing everything quite clean with no cloudy residue.


Review:
I have been using this now for over a month and just started my next batch. I recommend stirring each time you open the container to mix it up and then add your detergent in your dishwasher. Some people who have made this say that it may clump due to the citric acid, but again, I stir it each time and it has yet to clump on me.  I like it. It is easy to make, it works  and is  cheap..even better. Oh yes, and it smells good too.  I have a cheap dishwasher from our previous owners of our home, so I usually scrape most of what I can from plates before I wash. I have not tested it on dishes that are coated in food and its effectiveness on those. But for soiled dishes that have been scraped well, it works for me. :) Happy washing!

DIY / Homemade Fingerpaint and Review

My little Boo Bear,  is an artist. My walls are proof of it. When she was 1 we would put her in the highchair with watercolors , or crayons and sheets of coloring paper and she would find herself occupied for quite sometime. Her newest thing is painting with big kid paints. We had some crayola  washable paints stashed away from like 5 years ago. I pulled them out  some were dried out and some not.But as of this week she has used most of them up.  I was "surfing" Pinterest and found a easy recipe for finger paint.
http://easiepeasie.blogspot.com/2010/07/homemade-finger-paints.html

This was simple to make took about fifteen minutes. I added about a cup more of water once it was thickened and off the stove to thin it out to the consistency I like.(it is the consistency of thick shampoo) I poured it into a  4 cup glass  measuring cup. I also used my old rinsed out Crayola washable paint jars and reused those. I tried to use a funnel to get the paint into the little jars. That took way to long, I finally just poured the mix into the bottles. I added about 10 drops or so of food coloring to get the shade I wanted. Shook them well to mix color and I had 2 extra bottles of finger paint. I made blue and yellow and had some green  crayola left over so I added the leftover  plain "finger paint" to that jar with some more green food coloring.Shook and now have a full bottle of green. You can tell by the picture that the yellow and blue are a bit thicker than the green and red.

Review
Took a short amount of time, very cost effective.  (The 5 year old bottles of paint, had a price tag of 1.99 on them still) . I used what I had in my cupboard. So if she puts some in her mouth I feel ok since it was made with items I bake with.  They wash off fine and do the job of painting. They are not as dark as the Crayola brand. But they do the job. If they get left on hands for a while It may stain them lightly. So be careful on clothes. Also the mix will thicken up, so I only filled the bottles halfway with the finger paint, just in case I needed to add water later to water it down.I like them a lot. I would make it  again instead of buying them.
*** after the paints rested for most  of the day, they thickened up ( like Noxema facial cream texture), just add a little water to the bottle and shake, or put the paint on a tray and add additional water to get the consistency you want.

DIY laundry detergent and dryer sheets

 This week I realzied I was really close to running out of laundry detergent and dryer sheets. I started searching for a way to cut costs in the laundry room. As we have a front loading washer. When we purchased the washer Sears told us that we could only use "he" type soap or it voids the warranty.  That type of soap is so expensive.
I wanted to find out more info on the "soapyness" of laundry detergents. Right before we bought our washer, we also purchased a huge box of soap. So this soap has been sitting in my laundry room collecting dust for a few years. So I took a tsp of each soap, 8oz of water and compared them by shaking the jar of soapy water. Sure enough the non "he" detergent had a bunch of bubbles that stayed put. The "he" detergent had soapy bubbles at first but they quickly popped.
After some research, I found that the ingredient that helps with non-soapyness is found in Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. It is called sodium carbonate. There are many tutorials from Pinterest to You Tube  that show how to make homemade detergent.
I thought I will go with a website where people knew laundry. So I turned to the Duggar family..ya know the patient parents of 19 kids..going on 20 now. I thought well I have seen their laundry room on tv and if there is someone who knows something about doing laundry, the Duggar family is the one.
I did this recipe but cut it down to a 1/4 because I did not have a 5 gallon bucket.
Here are the instructions:
http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

Review :
Since I  only have 5 bears that need  clothes washed, I cut the recipe in 1/4. I had read on many websites during my research that any  bar soap will do, I used pure Ivory soap.. what I had on hand. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a "T".( cutting the recipe in 1/4) . It was simple to make. Took about 30 minutes total of my time. I suggest if you make it to not use a food processor. The shavings are bigger and take longer to melt and clump together. I used the smaller shredder side of my cheese grater. It made it into fine shreds. I added them slowly to the boiling water. I stirred constantly scraping sides of  pot until it was dissolved.
Then added it to my bucket of hot water and used my hand blender to blend it together.( the blending is a great idea to get it mixed well) Since all I had was a 16qt bucket I put foil over it and let it sit overnight up away from kids and pets. When its all done it resembles a watery slime thing..like the crud Slimer would leave from Ghostbusters.  I stirred well to break up the gelliness, I then took a small cup and a funnel, and used a recycled plastic gallon jug ( minute maid oj bottle) and filled it up with the slimy concoction. this concentrated and you must add one part water to one part detergent to get the finished product. I store the concentrated version in the cabinet and have explained to my hubby how to measure it out.

Now for the finished product I had an empty fabric softener bottle. So the  old empty fabric softener bottle is now our detergent bottle to measure out for the laundry loads. Filled that half way with the new detergent I made and filled the rest of the bottle with water. (one part detergent to one part water) The instructions for front loaders call for 1/4 cup of detergent per load. So I filled the "softener bottle top" with 1/4 cup of water and marked with a permanent marker the line to fill to. I have to do this cause my kids do laundry as a chore.   I thought I would be cute and put our name on the bottle so it says "The 5 Bears Laundry Detergent"  (5 bears yes..Im Mama Bear, hubby is Papa Bear, and my kids are Gummy Bear, Teddy Bear and Boo Bear. Cute huh?)

Well anyway, It looks like liquid detergent and smells like clean smell, you can add essential oils for fragrance..but I do not have any yet..(ahemm..Santa do you hear me?) They also say that the lines on your front loading washer can get clogged, and so I suggest just to be cautious to use 1/4 cup or so of vinegar once a week in the fabric softener cup thing in your washer to keep your lines squeaky clean.
*side note, you can use vinegar as a fabric softener daily to replace dryer sheets or fabric softener. Very economical and eco-friendly. Scroll to the bottom and I have a cheap way to make fabric sheets.

I dried my load I washed with my new detergent, It smells great! Like fresh laundry. No perfumes.If you do the whole recipe the Duggars have, it will make you 640 loads worth of soap. WOW.. and the savings, lets just say you cannot compare. Washing soda is all I needed to buy and a box of that runs a little under 4 bucks for 6 cups or so of washing soda. I used a fraction of it. So  I pretty much paid estimated 4 bucks (including my on hand bar soap and borax) for 160 loads of laundry detergent. HELLO savings!!! I thought buying washing soda would be a good 4 dollar investment as I can use it for liquid dish soap and powered dishwasher detergent (those posts coming soon too) I don't think I will ever go back to store bought laundry detergent ever again.

My version of  DIY dryer sheets:

That bottle I mentioned earlier the little fabric softener bottle that is now my detergent bottle, What was in the bottle ( downy fabric softener) that was what I used to make dryer sheets. Again, I use what I have on had and try not to buy something if I can avoid it. I had an old recycled large plastic pickle jar ( thanks pregnancy cravings from 3 years ago) that had been sitting around waiting to be used. I poured the gloopy old fabric softener into this large pickle jar. I filled up the little bottle twice and a half and poured it into the pickle jar until it was full with water. I then shook the plastic pickle jar with my concoction  really well.

Again, after some research, some people like to dip sponges in and squeeze them out and put them in the dryer. I do not buy sponges cause they are gross and harbor bacteria. I thought why waste money, I took a sock from the load I just did, dipped it in the slimy fabric softener soultion, and squeezed the excess and placed it in the dryer with the rest of the wet laundry. Wiped my hands on something that was damp in the washer and turned it on..Voila instant dryer sheet. and no dryer sheets to linger and find around the house. (Although there are many uses for used dryer sheets but that is another post) This cost me $1.50 for a gallon of "fabric softener"( That is 768 loads of dryer sheets!!! ) I use about 1tsp of fabric softener each load. I am estimating. Dipping a kids sock and coating it then squeezing out the excess. I say 1.50 cause I used a coupon years back on a clearance bottle of softener. I never use softener anyway in my wash because it requires more water to wash. I like to save money not send it down the drain. I will never buy another dryer sheet again. This stuff will last me forever. I think you will have to shake it from time to time but it works just as well as a dryer sheet does.

DIY soaps review

Hello friends, it has been a few weeks since I posted.. but last couple of weeks I have tried to make homemade liquid soaps, shampoo and laundry detergent. I have had 2 successes and one epic fail. Here is one part of many today..enjoy.. next post is Laundry detergent.

DIY Shampoo
First off I will start with the Shampoo. Crunch Betty http://www.crunchybetty.com/ is the best website I have found for homemade beauty products..she is amazing. Well she has a recipe as I call them for diy shampoo..or in the "crunchy" term "sorta poo" This is the link http://www.crunchybetty.com/not-ready-for-no-poo-try-sorta-poo-with-coconut-milk-and-castille  Its castille soap, and coconut milk. I will tell you it worked AMAZING!!

For DIY shampoo I followed her recipe but tripled it.
I used 3 Tbs of Lavender Castille soap. (just a warning..if you use the lavender castille soap..the lavender will relax you and you will want to cuddle on your couch and snuggle)
3 Tsp of coconut milk

Review:
Easy to make, I bought a small bottle of lavender castille soap ( all natural plant based soap) I used canned coconut milk, instead of homemade coconut milk. The solution I made with canned milk seemed thicker, than the picture on Crunchy Bettys website. The lather is better than any shampoo I have ever tried. I use less of this shampoo than the store brand. Apparently  from what I read..the coconut milk has something in it that makes it lather well. It rinses clean and smells amazing.
I did some research and found some people said that the canned or store bought milk left a weird feeling in their hair. I did not find that when I used canned coconut milk. I did however rinse well with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water and my hair came out beautifully. ** please note, Crunchy Betty says to keep this stuff out of your eyes..it burns bad from what she says..

Crunchy Betty  suggested using an apple cider diluted in water as a "conditioner". I took a small spray bottle and filled it using 1 part apple cider vinegar to 5 parts water. I found spraying it all over my hair and scalp was easier than pouring it on my head from a jar. I rinsed very well. I did not smell like a pickle at all. :)  * Because I have thick curly hair, I recommend washing your hair every other day to prevent drying it out.

Also for a quick clarifying way  to get rid of  build-up I used 1 tbs of baking soda to 8 oz of water..(Add 8oz water in shower or you will shiver from the water you added before hand)  pour on and rub in scalp , rinse well..This stuff got rid of build up no other clarifying shampoo could ever do.

I made 2 more batches of the shampoo . My husband LOVES it. He uses it as a body wash and shampoo. He likes it because it rinses clean quickly. He has found even Ivory soap takes a while to rinse off.  He also loves the smell.. Of course it is all natural so better for you and the environment. So I highly recommend Using Crunchy Betty's recipe for Homemade Shampoo. I works very well and you cannot beat the savings on it versus store shampoo.  I paid 6 bucks for a bottle of  Lavender Castille soap and I had cocount milk on hand.