Monday, January 31, 2011

Giveaway: Newborn Little Diva Tutu...CLOSED!

     This, the first of 4 giveaways in our Biggest Baby Shower event, is the perfect gift for a little princess!  Little Diva tutus have twice the fluff as our Basic tutus, making them stand out a little more.  My daughter is at the age where she loves to pretend and play dress-up, and her new Little Diva tutu is one of her favorites when she is in a ballerina or princess mood.  Here is a candid picture of my little diva wearing her  purple and white tutu. 

     These tutus are also beautiful when used as a prop for baby photos.  Many mommies would love to receive a fluffy tutu as a gift for their newborn girl to use in professional pictures.  

     Little Diva tutus are made from about 50 yards of tulle and have a ribbon closure.   The ribbon closure has proven to be a favorite among both mommies and photographers, especially if the tutu needs to be used by several little models in the same portrait session.  

     The tutu up for giveaway here is a newborn tutu, made with light pink and white tulle, with a pink satin ribbon closure.    


This giveaway is now closed!


Sunday, January 30, 2011

How to Throw the Best Baby Shower: Decoration Ideas

     Now that I'm in the stage of adulthood where my friends and family members are adding to their families, I've found myself throwing a few baby showers.  The best but most difficult part of shower planning for me has been the decorations.  This article will hopefully provide a little inspiration for those of you who have to plan a shower but also have difficulty with decorating ideas. 

Diaper Cakes
     One decoration I now consider to be an essential item for all baby showers is the diaper cake.  Whether using disposable or cloth diapers, new mommies love to have a little help financially in diapering their babies.  A diaper cake provides this help but also makes the perfect centerpiece for the gifts table.  There are many ways to make these cakes, but here is the method I typically use:  

1.  For a disposable diaper cake, I buy two packages of size 1 or 2 diapers.  I roll them up and tie them individually with a ribbon.  For a cloth diaper cake, I use inserts, prefolds, or white onesies/t-shirts.  I roll them up similarly and tie them with a ribbon.  These will form the "cake" layers.  

2.  Using a display board for a base, I glue a big cardboard tube or stack cylindrical containers up the center to put my "cake layers" around.  I usually make my cake 3 to 4 layers, depending on how many diapers I have or whether my cake is using cloth or disposable diapers.  Use your little diaper rolls to stack around the cylinder and form layers.  Tie each layer with a big colorful ribbon as you finish.  With cloth diaper cakes, I wrap a colorful diaper around a cylindrical container of the right width to form one or two complete alternating layers.  

3.  I usually put a toy or diapering accessories around the cake and on the top as a cake topper.

Here are a few pictures of diaper cakes I have done and that were done for me in the past:
 This diaper cake was done slightly differently, with the diapers unrolled.  They are wrapped around the inner cylinder (either formed by a rolled up diaper or a paper towel tube).  

 This is a cloth diaper cake, with the cloth diapers wrapped around cottage cheese and cool whip containers.  

 This was a six-layer cake, with layers wide enough to stick toys and accessories on each layer.  A marker board made up the base for this cake. 

Shower Themes

When decorating for a shower, I usually plan around a theme.  I plan table centerpieces, the gift table centerpiece (diaper cake), the cake for eating, and sometimes wall decorations or balloons.  Here are a few ideas for themes:

1.  "Noah's Ark":  You could use stuffed animals as table centerpieces, and have the ark and animals on the cake.  Colors for this theme could vary, and balloons could be tied to the animals or placed separately elsewhere.  

2.  "Baby Booties" or "Baby Blocks":  Use booties or blocks as centerpieces on the table and to decorate the cake.  Stuff booties with candy for an edible centerpiece.  Balloons could also be tied to the filled booties or blocks.  

3.  "Bun in the Oven":  For table centerpieces, have bowls with cinnamon rolls or some kind of sweet rolls as actual edible centerpieces.  Or you could use cinnamon-flavored candles.  The cake could be circular like a cinnamon roll or could be rectangular and have a picture of an oven door, or a doctor pulling a pan of rolls out of the oven.  

4.  Sometimes I just use the nursery colors or nursery theme to go with my shower decoration ideas.  If it's not meant to be a surprise, you can borrow some accessories from the mommie's nursery to decorate the tables.  
Here are a few pictures to give you inspiration:  






This last is a picture of an invitation.  Often you can get ideas for decorations based on your invitations as well.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Biggest Baby Shower

In just a few days, we at Bum Covered Diapers will host the biggest event we've done thus far:  The Biggest Baby Shower!  This event includes special blog posts relating to our baby shower theme, as well as giveaways each week.  In conjunction with the blog happenings, our store will feature sales on different items each week that would make suitable gifts for any mama-to-be, and we'll host our first local diaper party for anyone in the Iowa City area! Also, 10% of every purchase during the month will go toward donations to the Cloth Diaper Foundation to help new mommies in need.

Savings for February at Bum Covered Diapers:

All month long $1.99 will ship any order under $50, and all overs over $50 will receive FREE shipping!  Also, 10% of every purchase will go to the Cloth Diaper Foundation.

Week 1:
25% off Baby Aspen (These are pre-order items, so allow 2 weeks for delivery.)
Basic Tutus $6.00
Little Diva tutus (twice the tulle, twice the attitude!)  $10.00
Diaper Cake Kit $10.00

Week 2:
All diapers, inserts, liners, and wipes are on sale (excluding bumGenius, Flip, and Econobum)
10% off AppleCheeks
15% off Knickernappies
$1.00 off Build-Your-Own Fitted diapers
15% off Planet Wise

Week 3
$7.50 Fairy Tale Wall Decor (10-inch letter)
$5.50 Ribbon Bow Holders
30% off name letters
bibs and blankets $8.50
10% off gift certificates

Week  4:
25% off Melissa & Doug baby toys
15% off nursing pads and mama pads
15% off Planet Wise Sandwich bags & Wet Bags
an extra 10% off clearance items

February 26-28th:  Last-chance sale!  Everything listed above will be on sale again!

Blog Posts and Giveaways:
Look for two posts each week, one post will be informative, fun, and baby-shower related, the other will be a GIVEAWAY!  Stay tuned for these posts, starting on February 1st!

Diaper Party:
For those of you within driving distance of Iowa City, we are also going to put on the biggest and best baby shower for you!  This event will be at 3 pm on February 26, and it will be held at my house.   We plan to have games, food, prizes, and a diapering demonstration/discussion.  Come see what Bum Covered Diapers looks like behind the scene!  RSVP to melissa@bumcovereddiapers.com for directions or more information. 

Friday, January 14, 2011

Changes at Bum Covered Diapers for 2011!


Greetings from Bum Covered Diapers!

I hope your 2011 is off to a good start!  We have a few things to mention as this year is bringing some changes to our store.




   Planet Wise Sandwich bags will be available in our online store within the next week or two.  Our initial order was small, so if you don’t get yours before we run out, just email Melissa@bumcovereddiapers.com to make a pre-order.  I will make another order for them soon, but I would love to know what styles you prefer.  Available prints are already listed on our web site under the “Household Items”category:  http://www.bumcovereddiapers.com/household-items/planet-wise-reusable-sandwich-bags.html

 

We also have Flip and Econobum products on order!  Once again, if you want a color or insert style that we don’t have initially, just email us (Melissa@bumcovereddiapers.com) to put in a request for your item. 

 
 
Last, but certainly not least, we have been accepted as a Thirsties retailer!  We will be making our first order sometime between now and April, so you are welcome to let us know your requests for items to order.  We hope to carry Thirsties covers, Thirsties Duo, Thirsties Fab Fitteds, inserts, and wipes. 


Sales for January:
We currently are running a sale on all wet bags and pail liners (through Saturday), so you can "bag your wet stuff" at a discount!  Also, we will be having a FREE shipping event the last week in January.  Check out our Facebook page for the latest news on sales and featured products. 
Have a very happy January!
-Melissa

Bum Covered Diapers
http://www.facebook.com/bumcovereddiapers

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A GREEN Resolution


How to make a GREEN New Year’s Resolution

As the year 2011 approached, I found myself wondering what resolution I could make for the new year.  If you are like myself, this is a time to make (and break!) New Year’s resolutions.  Here are the top five resolutions I found with a quick Google search:  

1.      Spend more time with friends and family.
2.      Fit in fitness.
3.      Tame the bulge. 
4.      Quit smoking.
5.      Enjoy life more.

Most years I make resolutions that are difficult to achieve, and I have limited success keeping the resolutions I make.  This year I challenge myself and all of you to make a different (and hopefully more attainable) goal for 2011:  to move toward a more GREEN lifestyle.  Many of you have probably already taken some steps toward being eco-friendly, but there are probably even more things you could do.  Here are a few ideas to help us all make a GREEN New Year’s Resolution:
  1. If you’re not already using cloth diapers with your little one, now is a great time to start!  See my blog, http://bumcovereddiapers.blogspot.com or my web store, www.bumcovereddiapers.com to find information and products to help you get started. 
  2. Help the environment by using reusable cloth bags at the grocery stores instead of plastic bags.  If you do use plastic bags, re-use them or recycle them instead of throwing them away.  Did you know Hy-Vee gives you 5 cents back for every reusable bag you use for your purchases?  (If this store is not in your area, check to see if your local grocery stores offer this discount.)
  3. Eliminate paper and plastic waste where you can.  Have you thought of using real napkins instead of paper?  Or using a container for sandwiches instead of a Ziploc bag when you pack your lunch?  Also, reusable snack bags are now available at many retailers.  I just bought one today from RG Natural Babies online. 
  4. Set your heat a few degrees cooler and your air a few degrees warmer to conserve energy. 
  5. Replace your old light bulbs with high-efficiency bulbs, and turn off anything that doesn’t need to be on.
  6. See if your energy company will do an energy audit on your house to give you ideas for making your home more efficient. 

I hope these tips are helpful to some of you, and that you all have a great year!

-Melissa