The Eli Monster

The Eli Monster 1000 fan GIVEAWAY

2012-02-13T16:13:00.000-06:00

We've hit 1000 fans over the weekend and are hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate for anything in the store. Anything! How rad is that?

I'm holding the contest over for a few days to make sure that everyone gets a chance to enter and will pick a winner on Wednesday, February 15th at 8pm CST.

Go here to enter:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGN4Nk1OeGc0S3FTMlg4NGV5NjVJaFE6MQ

Wordless Wednesday-Preparing Screens

2011-07-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

Almost ready for new emulsions and images!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T07:35:00.001-06:00

Yummy.

Friday Finds: Bliss Love

2011-01-28T08:25:00.005-06:00

The Bliss congo on Hyenacart has gone through a tiny restructuring and is now stocking at 8p (est) on the first of every month. So in honor of the freshened up Bliss, I'm posting some wool love:

Axel's Set (Newborn) by Molly's Bottoms:
Auction starting at $10!!!

Perfect Peach Gaia Dress And Bloomers (3-6m) by Heartland Dreams
$55 (and worth every penny)

Today is the first day with my Mommy's Helper (yay!!!) so I'll have some awesome new stuff to stock at Bliss too! But you'll just have to wait and see (or keep an eye on my FB fanpage since I'm horrible at keeping a secret!)

Wordless Wednesday-Solidarity

2011-01-12T20:01:00.001-06:00

*Eli was in time-out...

One more thing to check off our holiday to do list!

2010-12-03T20:44:00.002-06:00

Bubble Wreath Holiday 5x7 folded card

Christmas cards and holiday thank you cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Cards are ordered. Done and done!

Oh, and my new favorite fabric is in-perfect for the geeks in all of us (or it may just be the diaper that gets hubby excited to change diapers *fingers crossed for all of you*)

Preorders on The Eli Monster's 8Bit diapers will be stocked this weekend!

We have a winner!!!

2010-12-03T19:43:00.001-06:00

The winner of the Medium Cover is...

Amanda A!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be contacting you through your email address you provided on the form to get shipping info.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Thrifty Thursday-Shutterfly and Why I Love Them So...

2010-12-01T21:30:00.005-06:00

I love doing photo cards. Most of the time they are very cost prohibitive so I end up just designing them and leaving them in my cart and going out to the store and buying regular cards and sticking a regular photo in them. Blegh.

This year Shutterfly has given photo cards to some bloggers to design and write about. I am seriously in LOVE with some of the designs-they're what I'd do if I had the time to start a card from scratch (which I don't so I usually end up picking the least worst from the choices on the various online printing places). I had a hard time picking a design b/c I wanted about half of them.

A few of my friends took special holiday photos for their cards. My darling children have stopped cooperating so a new photo shoot was out of the question. So what's a girl to do when all of your photos turn out like this:

You do a year in review! So instead of trying to get that ONE good shot, you can pick and choose bits and pieces of old photos to get this:

Take a bunch of snapshots and convert them to black and white (shutterfly can do that for you if you don't have the software to do it yourself) and voila! A nice photo card.

I won't show you the inside of the card b/c a lot of family members read my blog and I don't want to tooootally give it away. And it's borderline cheesy so I don't want y'all to make fun of me! I had a ton of choices for photo placement in the upper half of my card and went with a 3 image option-one for each child and one for both of them together (which is a rare thing to get-I think I had a whopping 5 photos of them together in the umpteen million photos I have in my computer).

I've used Shutterfly in the past. I like them-the site is easy to work with and if you sign up for the newsletter, you get a ton of discounts and freebies. Unfortunately I'm a girl that loves to plan but when it comes down to executing said plan, well...I don't wanna talk about that.

My job ended 6 weeks before Eli was born so I had a lot of time on my hands and made his birth announcement from scratch. All I needed to do was insert his newbie pics and info in and get them printed. Uh, that never happened. So when Adlai was born I went with some birth announcements from Shutterfly (these, to be specific). Guess where they are? NOT in other people's homes unfortunately. My poor children will be in high school before people get their birth announcements.

I would love to live closer to family and friends so I could have parties for my children and send out nifty birthday cards and invites. We're more of a phone call type of family when we do plan to get together...

And how cute would it be to put a snapshot of your child's class on a mug and give it to their teacher for a gift? Under $15 and I bet that that gift wouldn't be put in the cupboard with the rest of them.

Everyone cross your fingers and hope that these cards make their way to the mail this year!!!

Toddler Tuesday

2010-11-30T09:37:00.003-06:00

Eli has decided to run from the camera lately so no pictures from him but Adlai has been cooperating with me. She's becoming quite the ham. I guess Eli's too busy rocking out with his air guitar or air turntables to stop for a photo or two...

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday!

Birthday GIVEAWAY!

2010-11-29T09:43:00.003-06:00

Enter below to win this OOAK The Eli Monster Diaper cover in Medium.

Giveaway ends Friday December 3 at 7 pm (CST). New improved entry form below-no more need to make multiple comments!

***Giveaway over. Winner announced.***

Have You Signed Up for the Newsletter Yet?

2010-11-21T16:32:00.001-06:00

You might want to! Let's just say that there will be secret sales only open to newsletter describers...

Oh, the suspense!!!

It's November and that means...

2010-11-01T08:45:00.002-05:00

my birthday month! And The Eli Monster's 3 year anniversary on Etsy!!! (We didn't actually become a business till April when things got serious, so I get to celebrate twice a year!)

And all this means---November is GIVEAWAY MONTH!

Stay tuned for prizes and updates.

Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, a Halloween pic of the Strongman and The Amazing Bearded Baby:

Go Trick or Treating for Fluffy Prizes!

2010-10-28T11:17:00.002-05:00

Join Us for the ULTIMATE Trick-or-Treat Event!

Ruby Moon Natural Laundry Wash and Mama's Giveawas
have teamed up to create a spooktacular event!

You won't believe the prizes!

Mama and Ruby's Ultimate Trick- or-Treat

Join us October 28th at 9 am to October 31 at 11pm EST!

_________________________________________

The Eli Monster is participating and has donated a diaper. Go sign up and try to find all the goody bags! Click on the logo to go to the MamaAndRuby website to register and play!

Thrifty Thursday-what $0.50 and a few minutes can make

2010-10-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Girly has been showing a ton of interest in eating solids lately. I had every intention of delaying solids but when the child is grabbing your hand and shoving whatever food she can get into her mouth, I figured it was time...

So the other morning Eli and I headed off to the store to pick up some things for the week. We picked up some things for veggie soup (damn you Tony for becoming a vegetarian-I'm really missing meat and am a little bitter about having to relearn how to cook tasty meals sans meaty goodness).

We get to the baby aisle and I'm looking at these teeny jars of baby food. Eli decides that her first "baby" food should be carrots because he likes the color orange. I pick up a jar and place it in the cart. Wait-did I just put a $0.49 jar of carrots on top of a $1.00 bunch of fresh carrots? Am I missing something here? Is there a magic ingredient in there that I'm missing? Nope, check the label. No rainbow dust or other logically magical ingredient to make baby a genius or potty train by 12 months or learn 5 languages before the age of 3. Just carrots. Well, hell, I can do that.

We come home, put lunch in the oven and I start to chop veggies for the soup for dinner. I had 2 carrots left and not enough peas to really do anything so I went ahead and boiled them for a bit, threw them through the food processor and voila! Baby food! Why do people think this is so hard to do? I put the puree in an ice cube tray we had around and it's freezing right now. The cubes will get thrown in freezer bags and I can grab a few each morning to stick in the fridge till it's time to eat.

So how much money did I save?
12 jars of stage 1 baby food = $6
2 carrots left over from a $1 bag = $0.25
Handful of peas from $1 bag = eh, lets round up to a quarter since I don't really know.

Total saved for just this small amount? $5.50 Whoo-hoo!

Wordless Wednesday-New Longies

2010-10-20T03:33:00.000-05:00

They get the Girl-child Stamp of Approval.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T11:01:00.003-05:00

The Hunt Begins...

2010-10-01T09:29:00.000-05:00

Check out this cool hunt. Find all the candy corn pieces from the sponsors and win awesome diaper prizes!

http://www.mamaandruby.com/index.html

Toddler Tuesday-Things I never thought I'd say with such frequency

2010-09-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

"Your underwear is inside out and backwards, kid."

(I've had to say that 3 times already this morning). Ah the joys of parenting a (mostly) potty trained toddler.

Thrifty Thursday - The Magical Wash Ball

2010-08-05T15:28:00.002-05:00

I heard about this wash ball from one of my online mommy groups. It supposedly will wash up to 500 loads of laundry without any detergent. Hocus Pocus was my first thought. Nothing that costs $10 will wash 500 loads of laundry. I had a 40% coupon for Joann's and, being desperate for clean smelling clothes, I decided to try it out. It's supposed to be filled with little ceramic balls that manipulate the water to pull dirt our of the fabric fibers. I admit, I was a bit hesitant because online reviews made claims that the ball was useless and a waste of money and one site even went as far as to claim that it was filled with tiny pellets of dye.

I got it home and soaked it overnight like the directions said, all the while Tony is mocking me and my wash ball. *Insert pouty face here.*

I thought I'd take the plunge and do diapers on my very first wash ball load to really just break the thing in. I did add about a teaspoon of my diaper detergent. Just in case... Almost instantly the water turned murky brown and STUNK! My fears of buying this piece o' junk returned. It really IS just bits of dye that make you think the thing is pulling out dirt from your clothes. So, of course, I sat there and WATCHED the dern washing machine agitate my diapers in increasingly brown water. I kept telling myself that the soak didn't turn brown so it can't be dye, it can't be dye. The rinse cycle came and went (water clear this time) and I started pulling my diapers out of the washer expecting stinkies. NOPE! Fresh as a spring breeze! And bright too! Some of Adlai's diapers are handmedowns from Eli and have seen 3 years of diaper warfare (trust me, the kid is not gentle on his clothes) and came out looking almost brand new again. Since buying the wash ball, the wash water has gotten increasingly lighter which means (to me at least) that the ball did its job and is now just maintaining the clean. The same thing happened with towels and our other clothes. The colors seem a bit brighter and the fabrics have a fabric feel to them again. We have extremely hard water and everything was starting to get a funky feel to them.

I love this wash ball so much that I actually pulled it out of the washer mid-load to take a picture for this blog. A diaper load. That shows love, man. And don't you think the pink coordinates with the Gold Beast (aka our washer and dryer)?

*I guess I should provide info on where to get it... I found mine in the college dorm section of my local Jo Ann's. They are normally $10 but you can always find a 40% off coupon which brings it down to $6. Not bad for 500 loads of laundry.

Toddler Tuesday-Things We Teach Our Children.

2010-07-16T21:43:00.001-05:00

"What does a dog say?" "Woof, woof!"

"What does a cat say?" "Me-ow."

"What does a cow say?" "Moooooo."

"What does a raven say?" "Nevermore, nevermore!"

Toddler Tuesday-the joys of potty training and other toddler randoms

2010-07-13T08:27:00.001-05:00

So having a (now) 3 year old around has brought up some pretty funny conversations in our household.

while in the car, contemplating one stopping on a country back road or driving to a gas station

"What kind of potty do you need to do?" (meaning #1 or #2)

Long pause...

"Uuuuh---awesome big boy potty?"

while in the middle of IA in a Walmart bathroom changing Adlai

"Okay, we're all done-we just need to finish changing Adlai."

"Okay"

In walks woman to use the restroom.

"Hi, lady."

Lady-"Hi, what's your name?"

"E-i. This is Ad-way" point to Adlai

"Those are such nice names." proceeds to go to stall.

"Are you going to poop?" at the top of his lungs which, if you know the kid, is pretty loud.

I start shooshing him and tell him that that's something you don't talk to other people about, only Mommy and Daddy. He's questioning me about WHY you can't talk about it and we hear laughter erupting from the stall. She must have kids of her own.''

Eli is in loooooove with the Aquabats song, Pool party. It's pretty famous now from the show Yo Gabba Gabba but I found it on an old mix cd from waaaaaay back (like 8 or 9 years ago) and decided to play it for him. Now he's requesting it every time we get in the car (well, Tony's car b/c I'm lame and don't even have a cd player in my car). That or the midget pirate song by them. Or Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones. Or Black Sabbath. Ah, my kid's got funny taste in music.

What is Today?

2010-07-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today is Eli's Birthday! Happy birthday to my favorite Eli Monster in the whole wide world! We're off to the splash pad and then the party store to pick up some plates for our cupcakes!

Thrifty Thursday

2010-07-08T08:01:00.003-05:00

I haven't done one of these in a while. Two kids keep me busy! I didn't know if I should put this under Thrifty Thursday or Friday Finds since it's a little of both.

So anywho, on to the blog post...

I loves me this gadget! Tony's mom and dad got me a Bissell Steam Shot for my birthday (yes, I picked it out) and I can't stop using it! This tool combined with a little homemade household cleaner has made my house supa dupa clean (when I clean-the rest of the time it's a little messy but I recently read in an article about helicopter parenting that "Happy mess is better than Miserable Tidiness" so I'm going to go with that). I fell in love with our stove when we bought the house (who doesn't love a turquoise stove?) but it seemed a bit yellowed. We just figured that it was almost 60 years old and things had yellowed in the heat and all. I took the Steam Shot to it and wiped with a rag and instantly it looked practically brand new! So naturally I took it to the extreme and started steam cleaning EVERYTHING in the kitchen. Tony even steamed the rivets on our vent hood.

I love to sterilize sippy cups and bottles with it too. I really want to find out who designs some of these sippy cups and give them a stern talking to. We don't have a dishwasher and most of the lids are designed so a dish rag cannot get into all the nooks and crannies. So I just give everything a nice shot of steam after washing and it seems to be doing the trick. No more boiling huge pots of water, no soaking in a bleach solution (which I refused to do anyway).

Why is this in Thrifty Thursday? Because since November I have not bought one cleaning product (well, I did get a gallon of vinegar for $.77 a while back). No paper towels, no window cleaner, no surface cleaner, nothing, nada, zilch.

Eh, I've rambled too much. Both kidlets are asleep so I should probably head downstairs to sew for a while.

Wordless Wednesday-kitchen photo shoot

2010-07-07T09:30:00.006-05:00

I've been itching to start shooting again. I despise digital but don't have access to a darkroom at the moment so I guess I need to start practicing my digi skills. Here's a few highlights from an impromptu photo shoot last week...

And I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We did! We went to the Mississippi River headwaters and picnicked and swam and hiked. It was a long day but totally worth it.

Tony and Eli on the rocks between Lake Itaska and the Mississippi River!

The Eli Monster Giveaway

2010-07-05T16:00:00.002-05:00

Go check out HomeGrownFamilies and enter to win a silkscreened diaper of your choice!

In fact, head on over and check out her Cover The Booty series on cloth diapering and giveaway craziness!

Wordless Wednesday-Road Trip

2010-06-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

We returned home from St Louis last week and stopped a few places to take some pictures.

I've passed this building every time I drive through Missouri. It's been empty for the past 3 years. I wonder what it used to be-you don't see too many round buildings.

And here's our stop at Brandon Iowa-home of America's Largest Fryin' Pan! We stop through twice a year-the first time was when Eli was Adlai's age. I get all teary when I go through all the old fryin' pan pictures and see how he's changed over the last 3 years.

Wordless Wednesday-Hi

2010-06-24T20:36:00.002-05:00

I'm a day late. Sue me. To make it up to you-you get to look at my precious baby girl.

Thrifty Thursday-Pictures, Pictures...

2010-06-17T09:24:00.004-05:00

Our stairwell is sorta bare...

And we thought it would be funny to fill it with photos, salon-style (complete with frames on the ceiling)...

As opposed to Gallery style...

So I've been scouring the web for deals on photo printing. We don't have a lot of room so I'm mainly looking for smaller prints (5x7, 8x10, 11x14 -those are small to me since I'm used to printing 20x20 and larger) and have found a few places with good coupon codes. Lets look into them, shall we:

Sign up for Walgreen's newsletters. At least once or twice a month there is a coupon code for a free 8x10 collage print. You can have them printed in an hour and pick them up at your local Walgreens. I made one this morning and am going to pick it up when I take the kids to visit Tony for lunch.
Sign up for BabyCenter. For a limited time, you get a coupon code for CanvasOnDemand for a free 8x10 stretched photo canvas. You still have to pay about $15 in shipping but that's not bad for a canvas that is normally $75 with shipping...
Check out ArtsCow. New customers can get up to 1200 prints free.
And another photo site is Shutterfly. I get coupons almost weekly for free prints or nice discounts on photo books and other gifty stuff.

Being the girl who has over 40,000 photo files stuck in her computer (and this is only since I've owned a digital camera which is not that long), I really need to find a deal or two to get them out of my computer and onto the walls or in an album.

Now if I can only find some awesome deals on frames...

Thrifty Thursday Time!

2010-06-10T12:52:00.004-05:00

This week's Thrifty Thursday is about a desk. A free desk.

A desk that I had once, then gave away and now has come back to live with me again.

My brother and I (mainly my brother) had this wonderful piece of learning equipment when we were growing up. Then sadly we outgrew it. Funny thing about kids-they're always growing. So the poor desk sat unloved in the corner of my brother's room for a few years, forgot about under a constant pile of dirty laundry and action figures.

We finally gave it away to an aunt who had it repainted and put it in her kids' room. My cousins got a lot of use out of the desk but, alas, they also outgrew it and it ended up in their basement.

So I have the desk back! It traveled from Southern Illinois to Minnesota on the back of a truck in the pouring rain to get to us but it made it! And as you can see Eli is getting a kick out of doing his "homework."

Wordless Wednesday-new skirty for Adlai

2010-06-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

I've been bit by the skirty bug. So I got myself a nice little pattern and went to town. It only took a few weekends at work in between customers. And the great thing about this pattern is that it came with a license to sell up to 25 skirties a year so you may just see one or two pop up in my shops from time to time...

I made a medium since I didn't know how long it would take so the poor thing goes up to her armpits!

Toddler Tuesday-Eli's my new advertising guy

2010-06-08T20:57:00.003-05:00

I think I talk waaaaaaaaaaay too much about the business.

Eli's now telling everyone they should go to "E-I Monster got com." Yes, everyone. He's not even three and will tell strangers he meets that they should go to the website and see the cloth diapers HE makes. Or he'll point to Adlai and tell them, "This is my baby sister, Ad-way, she has cloth diapers-go to e-i monster got com."

So I think I'm going to promote Eli from delivery guy to Ad guy. Maybe even make him little toddler business cards to hand out to people...

It's the weekend...

2010-06-06T00:01:00.002-05:00

and we're on the road as usual. We go everywhere on the weekends. This time we're in Springfield for a wedding of a good friend from college. The wedding was nice. Short, but nice. Most of our friends from school were unable to make it so we took the opportunity to catch up with friends that weren't in my immediate social circle, you know, the kids who went to the same bars (or bowling alley on Wednesday nights) and sat with you at the same tables but not the ones you necessarily showed up with or made plans with-they just happened to be friends of friends.

So we had a lovely time at the wedding and reception. Adlai smiled and coo'ed at everyone (she's a genius! Already social smiling!) and Eli ran to the dance floor and started break dancing at any chance he could get. That was after he decided that he liked everyone enough to give each person at our table "5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact." Yes, I typed that right, he likes to reward people with eye contact. He's going to be the master of staring contests on the playground a few years from now...

Aaaaannnnd, we say our goodbyes, promise to call everyone who's number we have, Facebook those who's number's we don't have, and hit the road back to Tony's parents' house. And run into the Mutha of All Storms. Lightning so constant that the sky is lit up at some point in the sky at any given moment. The weather reports talk about tornadoes and wind damage and flash floods and we're headed right into the center of the storm. So we checked into the last room available in the city and hunker down for the evening. Not our first choice but with two kids, you decide to play it safe more often than not...

Minnesota just does not have electrical storms like Illinois has. Illinois has some seriously beautiful bouts of lightning. I miss that. A lot. It stormed the night before Adlai was born and in between contractions I would lament about how I was missing the ONE good storm that Minnesota would have all year. I guess this one makes up for the lack of them in the Great North.

So I'm sitting here in our hotel room with a baby asleep on my chest and a toddler running around trying not to fall asleep. I love the weekends-I never know where I'm going to be or what's going to happen!

Thrifty Thursday-GIVEAWAY TIME!

2010-06-03T10:35:00.000-05:00

In honor of reaching over 1000 (!!!) hearts on etsy, I am getting a GIVEAWAY ready for my awesome blog readers! Stay tuned for more details!

Wordless Wednesday-Newborn Minky

2010-06-02T10:29:00.000-05:00

This week's wordless Wednesday is brought to you by the letter M (for Minky) and the number 1 (for the #1 Photographer, evah! Joan McAlister of BellowBlue Photography in Madison, WI)

We majored in photography in college together (along with her husband, Jon) and are still super close. She did my maternity photos and Eli's first bday photos too (I think some are hiding out in her galleries). We took advantage of her visit to us in MPLS to take some a-ma-zing photos.

So here's a little snippet of the shoot with Adlai in her awesome Minky Newborn Fitteds!

Toddler Tuesday-Secret Toddler/Newborn Meetings

2010-06-01T10:21:00.002-05:00

I have decided that the kids have secret meetings when I'm out of the room. They plot against me, I swear. Their latest plan has been to sleep in shifts, thus never allowing me to get a decent amount of sleep myself.

Adlai has been perfecting her "Nothing's wrong, I just want to cry for a while" cry this past week or so. Don't confuse this with her "Oh, what's that? You want to wash some dishes? Nooo, I want to be held. NOW" cry or her "I can see that you are busy with important stuff so I'm going to want my swing mobile reset. Oh, oh, you're hands are full and can't drop everything instantly? I'm going to cry LOUDER and LOUDER till you get to a stopping point, then I'll suddenly be content" cry.

I have provided photographic proof:

She has been taking pointers from Eli:

Eli at 4 weeks. Don't they look the same?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick shot from my cell, but it's times like this that you cherish (and have to document to provide proof) because they NEVER happen! BOTH kids asleep AT THE SAME TIME! And in a STORE, no less! Let's just say I totally took advantage and browsed the en-ti-re store at a very leisurely pace.

Friday Finds

2010-04-30T15:00:00.003-05:00

Two kiddos have really worn me out lately. I took a break from blogging for a while to allow me some time to tie up some loose strings before Adlai made her appearance but now I'm back and hopefully will keep to this schedule I have set out for myself (hahahahaha-me? Stick to a schedule? When has THAT ever happened?).

So today is Friday, which means Friday Finds. I love wasting time on Etsy and Hyenacart for great stuff to pine over but lately I've been addicted to those websites that are a "daily deal" type of shop. These sites offer one or a few items each day at great prices and you never know what type of product is going to be sold so you have to check in every day. I usually wake up, make Eli some breakfast and myself a cup of tea (chai tea with lot's o' milk-my newest obsession), and now get Adlai up and in her mei tai or my arms, hop on downstairs and check out my little bookmarked list of Daily Deals sites.

Babysteals.com Great one product a day site for baby pretties. They have cloth diapers quite often for great prices.
Mambargains.com This site has baby things AND things for bigger kids. There's a time-out pad that keeps popping up on the site that I want to try for Eli since he's the KING of timeouts right now. It's like he has a timeout quota that he has to fill each day...
BabyHalfOff.com Another great one-product-a-day site. This one also has cloth quite frequently. I stalk this one the most.
bTrendie.com This site offers more than one brand/product at a time. Everything from baby clothes to maternity/nursing wear to lunchboxes are offered.
Zulily.com Another site that offers multiple brands each day. Lots of organic stuff on this site.
TheMiniSocial.com Yet another awesome site that offers multiple baby brands per day. There's some Mad Sky stuff up right now that I'm finding particularly drool worthy.

Some of these sites offer $10 for new members who were invited by an existing member so if you want an invite email to take advantage of that, post your email in the comments section and I'll hook you up.

We Have A New Monster!

2010-04-20T14:59:00.003-05:00

Baby Adlai is here!

We welcomed our new bundle of joy into this world Tuesday April 13th at 11:17a. She was 21" and weighed a whopping 10 lbs 5 oz!

Eli, the original Monster, is taking to her quite well. We still have to remind him to be geeeeeeentle but he's doing as well as a 2 1/2 year old can be expected.

So now that all the grandmas and aunts have left it's time to get back to work! I am sewing at *almost* full speed so if you are waiting on a package from me, you won't have to wait much longer!

Okay, enough blogging... back to kissing my new baby!

Why It's All Worth It

2010-03-13T19:40:00.002-06:00

Being a mom and being a business owner is tough work. Sometimes I wonder if it's too much for me to handle. Sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air and give up.

But sometimes it's all worth it...

MOMMY-

Eli's totally in his terrible twos. Hard. He tries my patience and it testing his boundaries at any given moment. Temper tantrums, telling us "no," selective hearing, contradicting us just to contradict, the list can go on.

But sometimes, like this morning, it's all worth it. I'm busy cutting diapers out and Eli's drawing at my desk. All of a sudden he looks up like a lightbulb turns on and he climbs down from the chair, walks over to me, smiles, and tells me his cheek has a boo boo. So I bend over and kiss his cheek. He just grins ear to ear and tells me "Thank you, my cheek is alllllllll better, Mommy, but forehead has boo boo." So I kiss his forehead. Again the grin and a request for a nose kiss. Once again, huuuuuuuuge grin and a "Thank you!" and off he toddles back to his drawings.

Not even 5 minutes later, he climbs back down from his chair and tells me that "Mommy - a boo boo on your cheek; I kiss." So I lean over and he kisses my cheek and gives me a big hug and runs off to play with his cars.

I just melted. My baby is growing up and becoming a caring compassionate little boy!

BUSINESS OWNER-

I love feedback. Good or bad, it all helps the company grow and improve. Every once in a while a customer will go above and beyond and it just makes my day!

I have recently started donating diapers to mommy bloggers to review and another to give away to their readers.

Tony grabs the mail and sorts it and tosses me a little envelope. It was a thank you card from a recent giveaway winner! It just touched me so much! To take time out of your busy day to sit down and hand write a thank you card means so much!!!

_______________________

So Eli's headed down with Tony to visit the grandparents for a few days while Tony goes to a conference thingy and I catch up on orders and get some much needed sleep and I'm missing my boys already (they've been gone a whopping 2 hours). Between the uninterrupted work time and the thank you card that totally re-energized my work mojo, I'm going to kick butt at production this weekend. And take some amazing naps, too!

Wordless Wednesday-That's how we roll.

2010-03-03T22:21:00.002-06:00

It got above freezing yesterday so we took a bike ride!

Wordless Wedsnesday

2010-02-24T12:26:00.003-06:00

Things have been crazy busy around here lately. So in addition to being mommy and trying to get orders out, I've been working on streamlining my production to speed things up so y'all can get your orders faster!

My latest toy:

It's a foot press for my snap press. Now I actually look forward to applying snaps!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-10T09:50:00.006-06:00

First off: Good News!!! Tony got accepted into the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota! Yay for him! We're one step closer to our life goals!

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

This week, in honor of the snow that just seems to keep coming down from the skies - A few snow pics.

Okay, these were taken about a month ago-it's snowed about twice as much since but the weather was bitter cold for a few weeks and we didn't want Eli out in it so I have no current current snow pics.

And how about a pic of Future Monster's Stash in Progress...

If you look closely, you may be able to find some fitteds and embelished prefolds that I made doubles of and will be STOCKING in the Cuties with Cloth Booties CONGO!!!

And how about this one of a contour changing pad cover I made for RockerByeBaby's shop:

I looove working with Minky! And I love teaming up with Amber of RBB to make these things! Go check out her shop and drool over all the great punk bedding she does!

Okay that's enough of a photo mash up for today! Have a happy Hump Day!

Toddler Tuesday

2010-02-09T20:34:00.003-06:00

I love living with a toddler, I really do...but sometimes they can just get to ya, you know?

The last few weeks Eli has decided not to nap anymore. Doesn't need it (he thinks) and won't go down without a fight and a fight and a fight.

So he's been a bit crabbier than usual. More timeouts, more temper tantrums.

Take this evening for example: I try to lay down on the couch for a nap because I finally feel "pregnant" and am pretty exhausted all the time. Eli's all set up with his toys and and Spongebob is on the tv. Every 5 minutes he's crying and wailing that he wants to watch Spongebob. I remind him that it IS ON right behind him and then suddenly he's okay again.

Fast forward to post nap attempt when I'm starting supper. He comes in to the kitchen and asks for some fruit. Normally I'd let him have some but supper would be ready in less than 15 minutes and I know he'd fill himself full of peaches and not eat the delicious made-from-scratch fettuccini alfredo with steamed cauliflower that I was preparing. Full on temper tantrum commences. So I give him a time out. As soon as timeout is over he's back at the fridge wanting peaches. Time out again. This goes on for a few times and I finally get to the point where I ask him if he wants to go lay down.

Yes.

So I get him ready for a nap.

No nap. Just lay down.

But not laying down. Standing up. With the lights on.

But it's a nap.

And he wants to close his eyes. But not lay down or go to sleep.

With juice. And a blanket around him.

So after this little dance around the actual word "sleep" my noodles are too soft, the sauce has done something funky but at least the veggies were steamed nicely.

Eli did "wake up" to eat dinner. And was even in a good enough mood to do a little dance afterwards for Tony...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-04T14:37:00.005-06:00

Okay, okay, so I'm a day late. Life is crazy hectic at the moment and somethings don't get checked off my Teux Deux list each day...

Eli's been playing "guitar" like crazy lately. We just turn on some videos and let him have the Guitar Hero controller and he goes to town. He asks me to "Rock Out" whenever he wants to play. Living with a toddler is so much fun when they're behaving!

I guess all that rocking out left him out of energy because at about 7p he stripped down and told me he was taking a bath and went and sat in the tub. So I gave him a bath and when he was done he asked to sit on the couch with a blanket. Not even 5 minutes later this is what I found-tv still on, Tony and I talking and doing stuff around him. He was OUT! This is the same kid that will fight to stay awake if there's the slightest bit of noise around him because he doesn't want to miss anything. I guess it didn't matter, he was sleepy and there was no amount of commotion that was going to keep him awake!

Toddler Tuesday

2010-02-02T10:29:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had great and wonderful holidays! I took the month of January off to visit family and to catch up on things around the house and business. But now I'm back and will try my derndest to keep up with this silly little blog...

So for today-Toddler Tuesday!

Eli has caught the yoga bug. If he wakes up before us he'll go into the living room and turn on my yoga dvd. He knows quite a few poses (downward facing dog, the warrior, etc). So we found this series of kids yoga on Activity TV on OnDemand through our cable. It's wonderful! We'll start the day out with a 10 minute (or 20 minute, depending on Eli's attention span) yoga session and then move on to a healthy breakfast of cereal and fruit. Or a smoothie if we have the ingredients on hand. Yeah, we're THAT kind of people.

As much as I'd like to make fun of our yoga doing, smoothie drinking new lifestyle, it's working for us. Eli hasn't been a great sleeper since we moved. He finally allows himself to fall asleep around 10 (or 11!) and will wake up at 7 and refuse a nap most days. And that's after waking up a few times overnight begging to play. I couldn't keep up-I was running myself ragged trying to get this boy to sleep. Since doing the yoga, he has been going down at 10 and waking up at 9 to 9:30. That's muuuuuch better. And he'll nap a bit in the afternoon on some days too.

Thrifty Thursday

2009-12-24T10:48:00.000-06:00

My friend Amber over at Rockerbyebaby is hosting a giveaway from EcostoreUSA!

She gives the company great reviews and is giving away a $25 gift certificate to use on anything in their store! I highly suggest hopping over there and entering a few times!

Linky Linky!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-23T10:25:00.003-06:00

This week is a happy little tree that lives behind my sink. It makes washing dishes so much better. In fact, I'm keeping up with dishes b/c I don't want to see them in front of my tree!

Tree in the daytime!

Tree at night!

I know, I know, the curtains are NOT the coolest in the world, but kitchen curtains are lower on the priority list than I'd like them to be...

I'd show you our big tree in the living room but we bought those new LED lights and they don't really illuminate the tree so I can't get a nice photograph of it at the moment. Maybe a miracle will happen on Christmas morning and it won't show up as a hunter green blob in our photos...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Thrifty Thursday

2009-12-17T23:41:00.000-06:00

How long did it take me to figure out that Thrifty Thursday sounds better than Thrifty Tuesday? I'm embarrassed to admit it...

So I'm changing up my schedule. And I'll do it again if I feel inclined to do so. Look at me dripping with power!

I had a hard time coming up with something so write about this week. What do my readers (what few readers I have) want to learn about? I don't want to talk about only cloth diapers-that is too boring-and I don't only want to give house tips-I do have a life outside of the house. So I'm stuck with nothing to write about.

So this week I thought I'd share an older pic of Eli's changing table and diaper area which cost a whopping $5...

That's right-$5 for the whole station. Tony and I were juuuuuust out of college (I was taking Graduate classes and Tony was graduating with his BFA about 3 weeks before Eli was born) so we were broke. as. a. joke. We had nothing but a large and loving family to help us put a nursery together. Let's break this thing down:

Table-FREE! It's the upper half of a larger chrome shelving unit. The bottom half went in our front closet.
Changing pad-FREE! Coupons and discounts equaling value from Target.
Changing pad covers-FREE! I made them from fabric left over from Eli's quilt.
Basket with changing accoutrements-FREE! Tin was leftover from an Easter basket. It fit perfectly into the extra space on the top of the table.
Basket with diapers-FREE! Given as a shower gift. I've since spray painted it black and added a nice skull liner in it to match the room better.
Basket with woolies-FREE! Again a gift-I've since switched out the ribbon for a black one.
Two green bins holding toys-$5. These were the only things I bought for that part of the room. They were on clearance at Walmart after school started. I love these things and hope to find some more somewhere...

The stainless pail in the corner was Eli's diaper pail. Worked great and was a gift from Tony's mom. It now resides in our kitchen as a real trashcan.

The black column on the right hand side of the pic is an old locker that my grandfather bartered for probably 20 years ago. My dad made shelves for the inside and repainted that and it's twin black for my brother when he was a kid. The pair is now split up and I used mine as a pantry in college.

And while I'm talking about Eli's old nursery, here's some more pics...

Eli's stash-most were made before I started doing prints so he doesn't have the snazzy stash I'd like him to have.

This was his crib when he was itty bitty. We bought the crib at a second hand store (Once Upon a Child) and sanded it down and painted it a nice charcoal grey. I made the bedding with fabric from my stash and made a coordinating taggie too.

I wish I had a picture of Eli's dresser. It's a yard sale find that Tony bought in college and then took off most of the ugly 70s trim and repainted the same grey as the crib and lime green for the drawer fronts.

Eli's room has changed a little now that we are in the new house-we painted his room a nice mid grey and bought different curtain rods now that he has two smaller windows instead of one massive one. But it's still essentially the same for now...

Now I just have to figure out how to reinvent some other pieces around the house to incorporate into the room by April when there'll be TWO kiddos in there...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-15T13:00:00.000-06:00

This week I thought I'd show y'all what I was doing in my spare time (ha!-spare time, what is that???).

Future Monster has a growing stash. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be out of control when she makes her debut into this world. We do have till April, folks...

But for now, Future Monster has some prefolds with ninjas, anarchy, monsters, skulls, toile, cars, crowns and Supergirl. Now I just need to finish up the umpteen million pairs of longies I have waiting in line...

And The Winner Is...

2009-12-15T09:51:00.002-06:00

Heidi J!!!

All those tweets (and extra entries) paid off!

I would like to thank everyone who entered. I will be holding more giveaways in the future so please stop back in from time to time!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T11:28:00.002-06:00

All I can say is FINALLY! Geez, I have been waiting anxiously for almost a month for some snow and it finally came. I mean, I moved up to Minnesota for the snow (and for Tony and our family, but mainly for the snow...)

We are fortunate enough to live next to a major park system with boulevards and bike trails and lots of great trees so there I was running around like an idiot with a bright pink and green mohawk hat and camera and heavy duty tripod taking pictures in the middle of a fairly busy intersection. I had to stop when the camera started to freeze up and not work... I miss my manual cameras; they work in temps much colder than 15...

Isn't it funny how much light pollution is given off from the city? The snow is falling so it's reflecting a bunch of it but it just never gets super dark. I'm still adjusting to city life 2 1/2 years later...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-02T12:12:00.000-06:00

This week I thought I'd show off the bump. This was a few weeks ago and I swear I've doubled in size but lately I've been bad about taking photos so this is what you get...

Meet Steph and the newest Monster.

Thrifty Tuesday

2009-12-01T12:16:00.003-06:00

So I had this whole blog set up for today but I decided to change it.

Why?

Because our circumstances changed overnight and our lives are now taking a different path.

So this is what I'm going with now...

We are having a HUGE "Tony Got Laid Off" Sale! Now that he has time to help me design for The Eli Monster, we are clearing out our In Stock, Seconds, and "Floor Samples (ie-the diaper that was used for the photograph)" in order to make room for the awesome stuff we come up with in the next few weeks.

Changing pad covers, diapers and longies are all marked down just in time for Christmas!

Stocking Wednesday December 2, at 1pm est.

REMEMBER our giveaway! You get an extra entry for each time you tweet (limit one tweet per day) and 2 entries for each blog you post mentioning and linking back to The Eli Monster

I want each of your entries to count so make sure you leave a separate comment for each action you take. Thanks!

The Last (and BIGGEST) Giveaway this Birthday Month!

2009-11-25T10:17:00.006-06:00

Okay, guys. I'm finally posting the last giveaway of my birthday month! I'm even extending the deadline so you have more opportunities to tweet or blog about it and ENTER MORE TIMES!

This week I'm giving away a cloth diapering gift set!

What's included, you ask?

Three diapers of your choice (AIO, Pocket, Cover)

Three gDiaper inserts (can also be used as doublers or pocket inserts)

Medium Wetbag

12 wipes

sample of diaper pail dust

That's over $100 of cloth diapering items!!!

To Enter:

Tell me your favorite type of diaper and why. Please include your email address in your first comment so I know how to contact you in case you win.

Wanna Enter More Times?

Fan me on Facebook! (give me your initials in your comment)
Follow me on Twitter! (give me your twitter name in comment)
Favorite The Eli Monster on Etsy! (give me your etsy name in comment)
Sign up for our Newsletter (sign in form in sidebar)! (give me your initials in comment)
Follow this blog! (box in sidebar of blog)

If you already follow The Eli Monster on any of these sites, let me know and that will count as an entry!

Wanna Enter EVEN MORE TIMES?

Blog about this giveaway! (Blogging counts as 2(!) entries so copy and paste link in your comment #1 and comment #2)
Tweet about us with link! (copy and paste tweet link in comment) You can tweet once a day and get an additional entry with each tweet!
Review your Eli Monster Diapers at The Diaper Pin!
Review your Eli Monster Diapers on Facebook!

For each thing activity, let me know in a separate comment so I can count them individually.

Contest ends 12/14/09. Winner will be picked via random.org and will be announced
12/15/09.

Week Three Winners Are:

2009-11-22T09:45:00.002-06:00

Scarlett and Angel_Baby_4U!!!

Congratulations to both winners! You will be contacted via email with details and print options.

Thanks to everyone who entered. The 4th and last giveaway this month will be posted tomorrow morning and remember-this one's the biggie!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T10:06:00.002-06:00

I thought ya'll might like to see where The Eli Monster's inner workings happen for this week's Wordless Wednesday. It's still a work in progress but you can only do so much at a time with a 2 year old "helping."

The Sewing table with fabric storage on either side

The Cutting area with humongous scrap bin (eek!) and storage for pre-cut pieces.

The Computer table and shelves for In-Stock Items (note the sexy chrysanthemum wallpaper that from the previous owner-I like its kitch) plus shipping supplies and filing.

It's not much, it's in the laundry room but I have so much more room now. I have a few prints and bulletin boards to hang, along with painting the wall behind the washer and dryer but it's cheery and NOT the lovely chipboard that was there to begin with (well, it still is-it's just painted but it's a pretty lavender now!).

Thrifty Tuesday!

2009-11-17T13:46:00.004-06:00

So, I changed the name of Cleaning Tuesday to Thrifty Tuesday because, well, I don't want to post only about cleaning all the time.

So Tuesdays will be all about homemade recipes, cheap cleaning tips, and natural ways to go about your day!

This week's tip:

Natural and Effective Facial Cleansers!

As a teen I was blessed with beautiful skin. Not a blemish in sight. Once I started college and the long stressful days got to me I started to break out more and more and more. I tried every over the counter product and even some prescription cremes. Nothing worked.

A girl I worked with said her mom suggested baking soda for me (I guess my skin was bad enough that it was the topic of dinner conversation for people I didn't even know).

So I thought I'd give it a go and within a month, my skin was almost clear. So The Powers That Be were right and I'm a baking soda convert.

How to do it:

Wet your face
Sprinkle a bit of baking soda in your hand-not a lot, a little goes a long way.
Sprinkle water into the baking soda to make a paste
Massage into face and neck
Rinse thoroughly

And you're done! I like to use a bit of lemon juice on a cotton ball as an astringent once in a while but beware of getting it into any scrapes or near your eyes; lemon juice stings!

I really like that I spend a whopping $1 every 3-4 months on my facial soap and I'm not worried one bit about what I'm putting on my skin. I even use it as a nice exfoliator for my lips in the winter.

Week 3 Giveaway!

2009-11-16T10:18:00.004-06:00

This week we are giving away 2 (not one, but two!!!) wetbags. Two lucky winners will recieve a Medium Custom Wetbag!

Awesome and practical at the same time...

This super capacity wetbag measures 14" x 14" and can hold at least a day of diapers easily. The inner layer of PUL is sewn separately from the outer print layer eliminating any leaks or wicking. The zipper is easy to use and keeps all smells at bay. A special piece of bamboo fleece is sewn at the opening allowing you to add a few drops of your favorite essential or fragrance oil making diaper changes even that much more pleasant!

A snap handle allows for easy hanging on a doorknob, on the edge of the changing pad, from your diaperbag handle or wherever you want to attach it!

This wetbag is large enough that is can serve many uses after baby is potty learned.

(Amy Butler Acanthus shown in size small)

To Enter:
Tell me what the best and worst things about cloth diapering are to you. Please leave your email address in your first comment or have it visible in your blogger profile.

Wanna Enter More Times?
Fan me on Facebook! (give me your initials in your comment)
Follow me on Twitter! (give me your twitter name in comment)
Favorite The Eli Monster on Etsy! (give me your etsy name in comment)
Sign up for our Newsletter (sign in form in sidebar)! (give me your initials in comment)
Follow this blog! (box in sidebar of blog)

Wanna Enter EVEN MORE TIMES?
Blog about this giveaway! (copy and paste link in your comment)
Tweet about us with link! (copy and paste tweet link in comment) You can tweet once a day and get an additional entry with each tweet!
Review your Eli Monster Diapers at The Diaper Pin!

For each thing activity, let me know in a separate comment so I can count them individually.

Contest ends 11/21/09. Winner will be picked via random.org and will be announced 11/22/09.

Winner #2 is...

2009-11-15T08:07:00.002-06:00

#3 -- Michelle!

Congrats!

I will be posting the third giveaway later today so everyone keep your eyes out and enter again this week! Good luck to everyone on the third giveaway!

Friday Finds

2009-11-13T13:29:00.005-06:00

This is my first Friday Find. What's a Friday Find, one may ask? It's a collage of great etsy (or hyenacart or trendy indie) stuff that I find to be great and fit into a theme.

This week's theme:

Maternity!

Because I'm officially announcing to the world that there is going to be another monster in our house in April! So I've been on the hunt for great maternity wear because all of my stuff from Eli has gone missing in our move this summer and I'm stuck with 1 pair of low rise jeans and a few sweatshirts. Not that thrilling-I wanna look cute when we go out and about in town!

First Row:

Knocked Up tee by JellybeanApparel. Cute tee-Tony used to tell people that I was a professional turkey thief when they would ask me if I was pregnant and it was veeeery obvious that I was.
Skully Ruffle Tunic by MamaSanMaternity. I. Must. Have. This. Top. I think it will be a great self birthday present!
Gown2Go Designer Hospital Gown by LilyandLou. I so wish I had the cash to spend on one of these gowns. The gown the hospital provides are usually so worn out and kinda gross. The one I had when I was in with Eli was actually TAPED together. I would give anything for a nice pretty gown for such an important day.

Second Row:

Anais Marguerite Blouse by Zorya. This is such a pretty blouse. While it's technically not maternity, you can still wear it for quite a while and it would transition nicely into your post baby wardrobe. I could wear this with dress pants for work and then throw on a pair of jeans and hit the galleries in the evening!
Matted I'm So Crafty, I Make People print by MuthaCrafter. I seriously heart this graphic and used it as my facebook avatar when I was pregnant with Eli. They have it in all sorts of forms-tees, buttons, prints-whatever your heart desires!
Belly Band by RunSystem63. I love this belly band. I don't know if I'll have to buy *real* maternity pants or if I can get away with the rubberband through the button hole again this time. Belly bands are great for covering that gap between your shirt and jeans and eliminate possible plumber's crack...

Third Row:

Starburst Maternity Tunic by XYFactory. This is super cute and is totally a departure from all the pinks and blues and fluffy bunnies that adorns maternity wear in major retail chains. The shop has a lot of great stuff for moms-to-be that don't want to give up their entire personality just because they are having a babe.
Short Sleeve Corsage Tee by Ellainaboutique. Again, not a true maternity top but one that would make it most of the way through your pregnancy and help with the transition back to regular clothes. This one got to my girly side-I have a thing for pretties...
Scribble Guitar Maternity Tee by DiscoBelly. A great basic graphic tee. One can never have enough basic tees and they should all have awesome designs on them! The guitar was my favorite out of the shop but there are a lot of other designs over there!

Winner #1 is...

2009-11-08T08:32:00.003-06:00

#41--Maria!

I will contact you about the details and will send your cover out quickly!

Thanks everyone for participating and good luck on the NEXT giveaway this month! Remember, each week the prize gets a little bigger!

Giveaway Number 2!

2009-11-07T09:23:00.004-06:00

Week number 2 starts with a bang! Tony's mom is coming into town so Tony and I can have a real date-we're going to the Art Brut concert tomorrow followed by some bowling at Bryant Lake Bowl. I'm super excited-this will be our first date since Easter weekend!

Okay, now that y'all are up to speed with my very small social life-the details of the next giveaway! The prize this week is a $25 gift certificate to The Eli Monster! Why limit the prize-my shop is custom made so my prizes should be too! The winner will be sent a discount code via email (or snail mail if you prefer) and can be used at theelimonster.com.

To Enter:
Tell me why you started (or want to start) cloth diapering! Your email must be visible in your blogger account or give me your email address (I promise no spam) in your first response.

Wanna Enter More Times?
Fan me on Facebook! (give me your initials in your comment)
Follow me on Twitter! (give me your twitter name in comment)
Favorite The Eli Monster on Etsy! (give me your etsy name in comment)
Sign up for our Newsletter (sign in form in sidebar)! (give me your initials in comment)

For each thing activity, let me know in a separate comment so I can count them individually.

Contest ends 11/14/09. Winner will be picked via random.org and will be announced 11/15/09.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-05T17:54:00.002-06:00

So my first wordless Wednesday is late. Sorry 'bout that...

Halloween was a blast. Eli was Paul Bunyan complete with stuffed ax and tiny tree to carry around. He wasn't too keen on saying Trick or Treat but said thank you to everyone and told them "bye bye" before telling me "next house!" We finally met our extended neighbors and everyone on our block is great! I love our neighborhood and think we're going to stick around for quite a while...

Cleaning Tuesday

2009-11-03T12:30:00.003-06:00

So I'm taking a cue from Amber of Rockerbyebaby and am going to try to make an organized way of posting on this happy little blog.

And I've decided that Tuesday will be Cleaning Tuesday (since that's the day I usually clean my house)! I will try to pick up eco friendly (or at least budget friendly) tips and recipes and share them with y'all every Tuesday.

First up:

Magical Soap Scum Shower Cleaner!

You'll need equal parts of:

Orange PineSol (name brand, not generic)
Concentrated Simple Green
Water

Mix together and pour into spray bottle. Spray on tile, wait a few minutes (doesn't take long) and wipe away. Rinse when done.

My bath was in pretty sad shape so I did have to use a little bit of muscle underneath the soap dish but it was so bad under there that it wasn't just soap scum anymore-they had formed little colonies and were building actual bars of soap under the dish where you couldn't see normally...

I've tried every store bought brand and none worked as well as this. It's super cheap and is friendlier on your skin than almost all of the shower cleaners I've used. And it smells DELISH! My bathroom smells so good right now.

And I've made a new rule banning any use of Ivory soap in our house-that was the main problem-it's back to a more eco (and skin) friendly soap for Tony-I already have the new bar out and ready for use.

My Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner is almost out and I'm going to refill the bottle with a weaker solution of this and see how that works-I think I will have a perma-clean shower from now on. Finally!!!

Crunchy Clean Giveaway

2009-11-02T09:12:00.002-06:00

In keeping with the Birthday Month of Celebration, I thought I'd link you to ANOTHER blog who is holding a Crunchy Clean Giveaway.

Go HERE and enter to win some diaper detergent to keep those Eli Monster diapers sparkling clean!

And while you're at it, check out the rest of the Peanut Butter & Pickles blog-it has some great reviews and it super cute!

Super Duper Huge Giveaway!!!!!

2009-10-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

In celebration of my birthday month next month I am sending some presents out to you, my customers and fans and cloth diaper aficionados. Usually I celebrate my birthday week (commonly known as Steph-apalooza) but this year I've decided on a whole month (thus changing the name to some other, more relevant festival name...Stepharoo? Steph By Stephwest? Tony's vote is SBSW, so I think we'll go with that one...)

This week, I am giving away diaper cover of your choice! Why limit it to one kind when you can totally have a choice!

To Enter:
Go to my shop and pick out your favorite cover and tell me in a comment.

Wanna Enter More Times?
Fan me on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter!
Favorite The Eli Monster on Etsy!
Sign up for our Newsletter (sign in form in sidebar)!

For each thing activity, let me know in a separate comment so I can count them individually.

Contest ends 11/7/09. I will pick the winner with a random number generator and will announce on 11/8/09! Good luck everyone!

Ooh-I have big things in store

2009-10-16T16:48:00.001-05:00

I'm totally setting up a teaser here...

Think:

Minky
Bags
Gifts
Giveaways!!!!!

That's all for now-you'll have to just wait and see what's in store...

The Mother of Diaper Giveaways

2009-08-13T07:58:00.002-05:00

My friend Amber over at RockerByeBaby is doing a HUGE cloth diaper giveaway on her blog.

Check it out!

And while you're over there, check out her shop-she has some pretty cool punky baby blankets and other cool stuff.

My poor, poor blog

2009-06-19T15:51:00.002-05:00

I will admit that I have neglected this blog. I've had a lot going on and some things just have to get set aside for a while.

The Eli Monster will have a new home soon. We are in the process of moving and making a larger home for the company (and our family).

We have a new website up too! This should make The Eli Monster easier to find and bookmark.

Eli's getting so big! He's just starting to be interested in the big boy potty----which means that I am testing my new trainer pattern. Hopefully I'll get some of the bugs worked out and will be introducing some Eli Monster trainers this summer!

So, hope you enjoyed the cliff notes version of an update around The Eli Monster. I promise I won't neglect this poor little blog as much.

New fitteds on the horizon!

2009-03-10T14:56:00.004-05:00

I've been bitten by the fitteds bug. I admit it. I can't get enough of them. Eli is in one almost constantly now. So, I thought I'd try my hand at them. I am so tired of happy bunnies or dancing teddy bears and wanted something with a little more, ahem, attitude (this will be something I'm not going to ask for once Eli is a teenager, I know).

I love, love, love organic bamboo velour! It's so soft and squishy! I wish I could make everything out of that stuff.

These fitteds are one sized with a fold down rise to eliminate bulk. Prices start at $25.

This weekend

2009-02-02T10:26:00.001-06:00

We had the BEST weekend EVER!

On Friday Tony kicked me out for the evening so I could see the ULTRA girly movie Bride Wars. He had another dad come over and have a play-date. I haven't seen a movie in the theaters in FOREVER so this was a special treat! The movie was okay but just the fact that I didn't have a toddler trying to climb all over me or a SO trying to talk to me about work was A-Maz-Ing.

Saturday I worked but left early to head over to St. Paul to the Winter Carnival. It was in the upper 30s so the temp was just right and the energy there was awesome. Then we watched the Vulcans overthrow King Boreas. The Vulcans are associated with fire (to chase away winter-King Boreas) so the whole parade was filled with FIRE! There were firetrucks, and flame jugglers and fire-baton twirlers and the baskets to hot air balloons. I never knew that hot air balloons could make such a huge flame-there were some that were over 30' in height. It was amazing. We had an awesome view for the overthrowing of King Boreas. We were on the steps of the library and they were on the other set of steps so we were at the perfect height and angle to see.

On Sunday we got up to go to church only to realize we were getting there as the service had ended (hey, it was early and we weren't functioning at full capacity yet) so we drove past a house we are looking to buy (fingers are crossed). After that we just ended up driving and before we knew it we were in Duluth! So we hung a right and crossed into Wisconsin and drove up to the Apostle Islands. We got out at one of the parks on the shore and walked out onto Lake Superior. We stopped at the top of these giant frozen waves and just looked out over frozen and not frozen water. It was fantastic! We were going to hike a bit more than we did but I looked at the map and decided to head over to the ferry and hike on Madeline Island. We get there and the ferry is frozen into the lake. Services are suspended for the season. Soooooooooo we hop out onto the lake and DRIVE to the island! They had a path cleared on the ice to get to the island! I had a bit of an upchuck feeling in my stomach and told Tony to turn around and he did but as we were getting back on land a large truck went out so we decided to follow and if they wend under, we'd stop and return to dry land (after trying to help them of course). This may be nothing for some of you but I come from the South where nothing freezes over-much less a large body of water! The "ice road" was a little over 2 MILES long. We got to the island and wandered around La Pointe (not much happening there in the winter) and headed over to the park and Tony pulled Eli and I on the toboggan on the beach. Eli thought that that was the best thing IN THE WORLD! I wish we had the camera but we were just heading to church that morning and never thought we'd be out on an island in Lake Superior.

I want to live in La Pointe, WI. I've decided it. They have a post office and everything. I could totally take my business out there and be happy as a clam. I'd just have to close up shop during the times where the ice is too thin to drive over and too thick to break up for the ferry. That's fine by me-the view is worth it!

New Things In The Shop

2008-10-27T17:40:00.002-05:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
TheEliMonster

Crafted Together

2008-10-08T09:58:00.001-05:00

I will be participating in the second Crafted Together this Saturday, 9-4 in the White Bear Lake Armory.

Details can be found here.

Why do we have children?

2008-09-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

For the cheap labor of course!

Eli decides he want to help everytime I finish an order and get it ready to mail off. It never, fails-he grabs the envelope and hauls it to the front door on his truck (this time it's Mater-usually it's the firetruck b/c the package will actually fit in the storage compartment under the seat). He'll make trip after trip to the front door till there's a pile ready for me to go.

Now if only I could get him to put them in the basket under the stroller, we'd be set!

I think he works for cookies. When the pile is done he runs over to me and says cook-ieeeeeeee. I'll keep him on for those wages!

Prefolds 101

2008-09-02T08:55:00.003-05:00

We made this video back in June or July to show in video form how to diaper with a prefold but I somehow forgot to add it here! So after sitting on Youtube and in my computer for a few months, I thought I'd finally share it with you guys. There's been some (liberal) editing, after one of the folds, I knocked over the tripod so you got a lovely shot of the ceiling and then Eli walking over to it and promptly eating the camera. That might make the director's cut.

And, no, you do not put your cover on before the prefold; it was just a nice way of providing some modesty. A washcloth would have been grabbed instantly and I wanted to use Eli in all of his squirminess to show you that it IS possible to diaper with prefolds after your baby has started to move around.

Sick...

2008-08-29T21:36:00.002-05:00

I had a medical emergency last week making any production impossible. I am slowly getting better and am almost back up to full speed. I am behind in my orders but hope to be caught up soon. So don't worry about not getting your baby fluff, it'll get to you, just a little later than usual. I'm very sorry for any delays.

Win a Babywearing Package

2008-07-01T12:00:00.003-05:00

Here's another contest...

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

I love my mei tei that I made. We use it all the time. Enter if you don't sew or don't have time to sew right now. Who doesn't love a chance to win free stuff to get close to your baby!

Win free BGs

2008-07-01T11:48:00.001-05:00

I know I should be promoting a "Win Free Eli Monster Diapers" contest but, hey, free diapers are free diapers!

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Eli Monster is International!!!

2008-04-07T16:04:00.002-05:00

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Visit TripAdvisor.com

The Eli Monster is international!

I found this great tool and decided that I needed a visual showing me everywhere that The Eli Monster diapers now reside. Neato, huh?

I'll be back to update because this was really fun.

Etsy Directory

2008-03-26T20:29:00.001-05:00

Here is a directory to some great Etsy shops. They are divided into more distinct categories for easy shopping.

How to clean Velcro/Aplix/Touchtape

2008-03-18T12:56:00.003-05:00

Hi all!

I've been noticing that some moms are wary of Velcro/Aplix/Touchtape because they don't like how it gets dirty and filled with hairs, fuzz, and other ugly bits. I don't think that this is fair for the hook and loop family so I thought I'd share my knowledge of how to quickly and easily clean all that gunk out of the hook tape. Ready?...

Rub two bits of hook tape together. So on your diapers, rub the two wings together. All that gunk rolls up into a ball and it super easy to pick out. Now your hook tape looks good as new! And on top of looking nice and purdy, it renews the "stickiness" of the hook and loop tape.

Whew, that was hard!

Have a great day; we're enjoying some of the last snowfalls of the season. Off to jog to the post office!

SpeedyPants

2008-02-19T16:15:00.005-06:00

Oi! I've been so busy running all over the Twin Cities today. Had to go to the post office so, of course, it's snowing and we had to trek through all the slush. But that's okay! I'll trek through a lot if it means I'm sharing my diapers with the world! I tried to do paypal shipping labels but neither of my computers have the correct internet browsers on them so we go out in the elements.

Then we had to buy some more prefolds to embelish. That was all the way over in St. Paul and in the process I got the contact info for the owner of the natural baby store over there so hopefully I can set up a meeting with said owner and sell to them. It'd be nice to see my stuff in a brick and mortar store.

On our way back we ended up on the wrong highway so we meandered our way to a Target (you could close your eyes and walk 50 feet in any direction and end up running into one around here) to get baby food and then wandered through a subdivision to get to a Hancocks to pick up some embroidery hoops (for silkscreens!). All in all, it was a lovely day. Eli flirted with every lady who peeked into his carseat. He's gonna grow up to break hearts! I've already started to train him "roses from the gas station for no reason mean a lot" and "don't get her cheesy jewelry." as I rock him to sleep at naptime.

Tony designed the diaper up there at the top of the post. He named the design "SpeedyPants." I think the name is just super adorable! We're working on different color combos right now. I put it up on Etsy yesterday and within 24 hours it sold! That's amazing. Tony's excited because something that he designed is actually in production and selling on top of that. Not many kids from his graduating class can say that. Industrial design in a tough, tough, field to break into and having something in your portfolio that people are buying is a good thing.

Oh, I have so many orders to get out today, the stack of outgoing packages is already four high and I'm not even done. My goal today is to get every order out and to get at least two more designs up on my shop. That means lots of sewing! But for now, a lunch and blog break!

Rock 'N Rumps

2008-02-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

I think that's going to be the name for my line of Punk Rock clothing and diapers. Thought of it at 3 this morning as I was awake thinking of things to make for the shop. I think it's kinda cute.

I'm off to the art store to get some photo emulsion for silkscreening. I'm so tired of sitting for an hour or so and hand painting a design only to mess up in the last details and have to scrap it. So yay! for more intricate designs in the upcoming weeks.

I started experimenting with various bloomer patterns to compliment my punk diapers. Spring is upon us and I want to get some nice little rump covers up. How cute will all these little ones be in punk bloomers and a tee? Just adorable! I found some super super airy cotton knits that will be just perfect in the warmer months. And the color selection is superb!

Okay, so the photo isn't amazing. The flash kept going off and I'm typing on the laptop and the camera is attached to the desktop so I had to do a super quick picture and then email it to myself so I can show you all. It's sooooooo soft. I tried it on Eli and he was mesmerized by the color. Ooops, naptime's over. Must get back to Mom duty!

Why?

2008-02-07T11:54:00.001-06:00

Why is it that every time I need to go to the post office to ship something it starts to snow? I'm not talking about flurries here but big, fat, quarter sized flakes. And they're coming down FAST. At least Eli loves to watch the snow. I just hate taking him out in it because he has an ability to remove every article of clothing that will protect him from said snow. We aren't even out the door and he has his hat and mittens off. Thankfully he's strapped into his carseat with a bunting bag zipped up tight or he'd somehow wiggle out of his coat!

I love babies in the morning...

2008-02-07T11:25:00.000-06:00

This morning I got up to get Eli up and as I was leaning into his crib he just rolled over and gave me the biggest smile in the world.

It's like that every morning. It's my favorite part of the day. I love how he snuggles into me as I pick him up. I love how he rubs the sleepys out of his eyes. I love how he looks around his room with a slight, "huh, what's going on, wasn't it dark out when I fell asleep?" look on his face. I love his baby stretches. I love how I have to tickle his feet to get his legs to bend so I can slip his feet back into his pjs after his diaper change. But most of all, I just love that smile.

He's now big enough to eat some baby food and he just gets so excited when I put him into his highchair and get his breakfast ready. His feet just go a mile a minute and his arms pump up and down in excitement. He usually gets so worked up about eating that he can hardly contain himself to eat. It takes a while but I'm savoring every moment of breakfast time. I know that all too soon, he'll be all grown up and be too busy to sit down to breakfast every morning. Thankfully that's over a decade away so I can soak it all in.

I've been sewing away, making a dress and bloomers for my niece and it's my first time to actually use a pattern that I bought instead of just figuring it out and making a pattern myself. I wanted to start with the bloomers in small (0-6 mo.), thinking that if they turned out bad I didn't waste a whole lot of fabric but if they turned out nice then I would post them on Etsy. I tried them on Eli (poor guy!) and they were HUGE! I mean humongous! They could easily be for a 12-18 mo old, not 0-6. I even used more than the given seam allowances because I did french seams to finish off the inside. I'm afraid to start on the dress in fear that it would swallow her alive! I think I will make a smaller size and see what happens.

I will add pics later; the light out is not so fabulous and I don't feel like bringing out the camera.

New Print Diapers out.

2008-01-30T13:59:00.000-06:00

The print AIOs are now in my etsy store. I added them earlier this morning. I like them a lot. Most of my prints are pretty girly so unfortunately Eli will not be able to benefit from my hard work.

Did I tell you I am having so much fun? It's like an addiction. I have to stay away from any fabric website or store because I will spend way too much and get myself into trouble.

The Eli Monster

2008-01-28T18:55:00.000-06:00

I've been tinkering away at the sewing machine and think I've gotten a system down for my diapers and covers. Look how cute they've turned out.

I found a great website that supplies just the waterproof film for my diapers. I'm in the middle of taking all of my fabric out of every nook and cranny that it's shoved in and making cute diapers and covers.

I'm in great need for supplies. I have the fabric but I'm in need of the thread and velcro (boy, do I go through that stuff!) and other little odds and ends.

I like this new background that I'm photographing on. Thank you Michaels Crafts and thank you Martha Stewart! It's no secret that I am a Martha junkie. I can hardly even imagine to keep up with her and her OCD, but I can hope to one day find the time to alphabetize my sock drawer. I was meaning to subscribe to her Blueprint magazine but was saddened the other week to find out that it went to magazine heaven.

So I sit here typing, waiting for dinner to settle in the belly before heading back to the kitchen table to sew some more. I don't know what will happen when Spring comes. I guess I'll just have to divide my time between photographing and sewing.

Gooey Butter Cake (Our way)

2007-11-20T16:39:00.000-06:00

I LOOOOOOVE this cake! It's a mix between cake and cheesecake sprinkled with powdered sugary delight.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick margarine (melted)

2 eggs

Pour in 9x13 cake pan. Make sure you get it all the way to the edges.

Mix:

1 8oz package cream cheese

2 eggs

1 box powdered sugar

Pour over first set of ingredients.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Texas Sheet Cake

2007-11-20T16:29:00.000-06:00

I've loved this cake since I was a little girl. It was an Easter favorite right behind the lamb cake with green coconut for grass and jelly beans for eyes.

I now have the time to start baking and cooking so I'll be adding a ton of new recipes soon.

Preheat oven to 400

Mix:

2c flour

2c suger

1t baking soda

Boil:

1 stick magerine

1/2c oil

1/4c cocoa

1c water

Mix with dry ingredients then smooth out in the largest cookie sheet you own.

Mix:

1/2c buttermilk

1t vanilla

2 eggs

Pour over other ingredients.

Boil:

1/4c cocoa

1 stick margerine

6T milk

then add to last set of ingredients

1t vanilla

1 box powdered suger

Pour over everything then bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

It's extremely rich so you won't eat a lot so don't worry about the amount of margerine/suger/other yummy stuff in it.

My very own Blog!!!

2007-11-20T16:05:00.000-06:00

Man, oh, man.

I have so many accounts it's hard to keep up. Mayspace, Facebook, Cafemom, two Etsy shops, Babysites. When does it end?

I end up putting my thoughts in so many different places I repeat myself over and over and over. Hopefully this will replace a few.