Laundry tips for baby clothes

We love spending money on our children. Especially on all those adorable clothing collections. In an effort to maximize longevity and make sure your designer duds look their best here are our tips on laundry care for the little ones:

•For protein stains like formula, breast milk and diaper stains, soak the garment in cold water and then apply an enzyme-based cleaner or pretreatment cleaner directly to the stain. Give the cleaner a chance to attack the stain before washing the garment. Never soak a garment in hot water because it will only set the stain.

I always suggest natural cleaners that are safe for the environment and our families. Whatever you use be sure to use care and if necessary keep out of reach of children.

•If the stain persists, you can try an all-purpose stain remover. Rub gently and rinse. With diaper stains, try placing the garment outside in the sun. It works as natural bleach.

•For oily stains from baby products, such as lotions, baby oils and petroleum jelly, your first course of action should be to absorb some of the oil with cornstarch. Let the cornstarch set for 30 minutes. Then scrape it off and treat the fabric with a pre-treat solvent. A frugal alternative is to apply dish liquid to the stain and soak. Rinse with vinegar. Then launder as usual.

I experienced this one first hand when my three year old painted his room with butt paste. Dawn dish soap and some natural melaleuca dish soap worked great.

•For fruit and vegetable stains, soak in cold water. Blot as much of the stain as possible. Hydrogen peroxide or vinegar can help remove these stains, too. Apply a pre-treat solvent and launder as usual.

Additional note: when it comes to crayon and other tough stains on fabric and even walls... Try WD40?! I had no idea how many uses it had...more on that tomorrow:)

What other tricks do you have?

Reflection..

Yesterday was a day full of so many emotions. The 10 year Anniversary commemorating the September 11th attacks brought back so many memories.

Where were you when the attacks happened?

I was in the tents for Fashion Week.

When did you first hear of the attacks?

Backstage I was on the phone with my mom's best friend, Charlene - her daughter was planning to come into the City for the day. She mentioned something about a plane hitting the world trade. Seconds later we were told they were evacuating the tents.

What were your thoughts/fears?

I had no idea what to think. Was this an accident or something more...?!

Who did you call first?

Cell phone service was practically nonexixtant. After much difficulty I finally got thru to my mother. She begged me to leave the City any way I could. I felt the need to stay.

Where did you go? Who did you spend the next 24, 48, 72 hrs with?

Everyone else was heading north away from Ground Zero as I started to walk downtown. Was there anything I could do to help?! I looked for a friend down by Union Square and decided it was best to head home. The second building had hit and both buildings were down. Something terrible was going on. I felt so fortunate to have amazing friends as roomates...me and my guy friends from Delaware got each other thru the next few days. I will never forget walking out to the street that night. We decided to try to get out of the apartment and away from the television...it was so depressing...there was no one else on the streets. New York City was a ghost town.

What did you notice after?

A City where people often walked around starring at the ground was now looking each other in the eye. There was an amazing sense of community. This tragedy should have never happened, but it did bring everyone together in an amazing way. We proved that we can not be defeated. We proved how strong we truly are.

Take a moment to think about what is really important in life. A friend wrote something that stuck out in my mind yesterday that I would like to share:

‎"10 yrs ago nothing mattered so much as where friends, family, co-workers were at those moments. On a plane?, in a building?, on a field trip? Somewhere! - We paused and did a "check" on who and where they were. Politics didn't matter, nor hurt against our fellow man/woman, who we had arguments with, or who we had petty grievances with. We were all brought together to comfort and hold each other up...Don't wait til events like this bring us together the way 9/11 did."

-Joshua Short

Best Ice Cream I've Come Across...

Steve's - why can I only find you in New York?! Your Ice Cream is so dreamy I need to carry it over State lines. For those lucky New York folks you must get your hands on this PRONTO. I know...I'm slightly obsessed. With flavors like Cinnamon Coffee, Mexican Chili Chocolate, Mint Cacao Chip, Maple Porter Pecan, and Coconut Cilantro Lime there is something for everyone. Did I mention they have traditional ice cream made from a local dairy farm and also a dairy free coconut creme line for those who are dairy free? It only gets better with their line of Kombucha infused sorbets. Hailing from Massachusetts and now based in Brooklyn you can find this great treat in Boerum Hill or Bryant Park at their Shops or in various retailers across New York. We can't wait for them to start shipping!

Another great company attracting attention from the UK!

Brace yourself...A fixture in the UK Momas and Papas has hit the States!

Momas and Papas has arrived. They have been in the UK for quite some time and have a wide range of baby/child furniture, strollers, carriers, highchairs, positioners and toys. This company is AMAZING! Such great style and functionality. I am slightly obsessed with their products - and tthe quality is top notch!

I only wish I stumbled across some of their fabulous designs sooner!

The calm before the storm...

Ahhh...I love my early mornings. A little peace and quiet before the kids wake up. Husband is already off to work and I have some alone time. Number two greeted us just 2 weeks ago and life seems more complete...and busy. so far I am thriving on the excitement and striving to be as productive as possible. I have been coming across some amazing products I cannot wait to share and some exciting projects I am working on too. Future, seasoned, expectant and new moms rejoice. We have some amazing things coming your way. Sneak peak at some new products coming out, summer's favorite activities, must have/must do, and what's HOT now. Stay tuned...

Farmer's market bags

First a big thank you to Design Sponge for this one. This project is exactly what I have been looking for. In an effort to live a more green lifestyle - it kills me to use plastic bags. It is something I don't think I could give up entirely, but any chance I get to use something reuseable or more sustainable I do!

One of my highlights of the week includes a trip to the Reading terminal and some of Philadelphia's finest outdoor farmers’ markets. These trips to the market remind us of where our food comes from and how important it is to take care of our earth and continue to cut down on waste. We get some of the freshest, finest and most reasonable fruit and veggies from the area. I love talking to the farmer's and learning about their practices...and the recipes I get are often favorites. I am borrowing these pictures from design sponge, but I promise to post my after photo's as well. I suggest checking out their post as they have pictures to go along with each step. This is so great. You will not be disappointed. Thanks again, BBB Sisters and Design Sponge.
http://www.designsponge.com/2011/06/diy-project-farmers-market-bags.html

Materials

■fabric scissors
■kitchen tea towels (Ours are from Ikea and Williams Sonoma; you can use new ones or give new life to old towels. Flour-sack towels work really well because they’re such a lightweight, breathable fabric, and they don’t weigh very much if you use these at the grocery store, as well.)
■string
■safety pin
■sewing machine
■rubber stamps (optional)
■fabric paint, ink or stamp pads (optional)

Instructions

1. Make sure the hem of your towel is such that you will be able to thread twine through it to create a drawstring. All of the towels we were using had this allowance.

2. Determine the size of the market bag you would like. For the larger market bags used for potatoes or apples, we simply folded the tea towel in half. Others we cut in half and then folded in half again to make them half the size. These we used for garlic and herbs and smaller items. If necessary, cut the towel to the proper size. For an extra-big bag, you can put two full-sized towels together without cutting at all.

3. Fold the towel in half, right sides together, making sure the hem of the towel is on the top, or opening, of the bag. Then you will be able to thread a piece of string through the top hem of the towel.

4. Pin the sides and sew them up with the wrong sides facing each other. Be sure not to sew all the way to the top on either side so that you will be able to thread the drawstring through the top seamlessly.

5. Turn the bag right-side out. There should be a space large enough to thread a string with a safety pin or a tape threader at the top of the bag. This is one of the great things about this project — the hem is already made for you, saving you the trouble of needing to sew it. Thread the twine through the entire top of the bag creating a drawstring.

6. Stamp and decorate!

Clarisonic...anti-aging at its finest

Looking to transform your skin? I am. At nine months pregnant with number two on the way - I am looking to do just about anything to feel good and look younger. Afterall - who isn't?! I recently broke down and invested in the Clarisonic skincare system. I was getting lazy about taking care of my face...Especially exhausted as I was at the end of the day. Using the same technology as the ever popular sonic care toothbrush the clarisonic cleans skin penetrating deep to remove make-up, dead skin and helps decrease the visibility of pores. Who doesn't need that! It is easy, fast and convenient. And the difference you'll see is immeadiate. I love that my package comes with body brush as well so bringing in the shower allows for an all-over body massage and deep cleaning. Similar to what so many spas and salons use how could you possibly go wrong. A little bit of heaven at home. A little pampering goes a long way