Major Shoe Sale!

I've been wearing Simple Shoes since about the 7th grade. I totally heart them. They are super comfy and were the only shoes that I could wear while pregnant (aside from flip-flops)!

They are having a mega sale with free shipping right now. You can get the super cute shoes pictured above in a variety of colors for just $14.90 with free shipping! These are regular $60 and let me tell you, finding Simple Shoes on sale is a rare occasion.

What could make this deal even sweeter? How about the fact that most, if not all, of Simple Shoes are SUPER eco-friendly. Take the Satire shoes pictured above, these cute little numbers have:

• Certified 100% organic cotton linings
• PET laces (that's recycled soda bottles!)
• Ortholite/recycled car tire pedbeds
• Outsoles used to be a car tire
• 100% post-consumer paper pulp foot forms
• Ships to you in totally state-of-the-art/back-to-the-future post-consumer recycled box
• Member of the ecoSNEAKS® collection & part of the Better category (see the Simple Shoes website for more details)
  

Peruse the website, be enlightened on how shoes can be eco-friendly (they have great keys and explanations letting you know what each shoe is made of and how it is environmentally friendly), and get yourself a pair or two at an awesome sale price- with free shipping! Added by Daniella: I just have to say that I wasn't initially sold on these shoes. That is, until Jackie raved about them. So of course at these prices I had to try them out. After a few days of debating which styles I just decided what the heck...and I ordered 5 different pairs! Get this, at regular price the five pairs would have cost me $345 but I only spent $69.50! Plus, if you order through the Simple Shoe link on Cashbaq.com you will earn 7% cash back into your cashbaq online account (if you don't already have an account you will also earn $5 just for setting one up). I can't wait to try these shoes out. Thanks Jackie!

Urban Fluff Liquidation Sale!

GASP, cloth diapers on sale (jumping up and down)! A great cloth diaper sale is rare, and believe me I am always on the hunt for a cloth diaper sale. Urban Fluff is having an inventory liquidation sale, everything is $10 and under! Imagine this...an organic all in one diaper originally $24.95 on sale for $10! I have not yet tried Urban Fluff diapers so I can't share my opinions on them. However, I of course have some on the way so a review will be in the future! Happy shopping!

50% off Nursing Bras!

I am sure that the nursing mamas out there understand how important a good quality nursing bra is. I'm sure you also know how expensive they are! I rarely have seen quality nursing bras go on sale and I have NEVER seen them on sale for 50% off (and free shipping)! So here is your chance to stock up! I did and I'm not even nursing right now (I cheaped out on my last nursing bras and they have fallen apart)! Check out Moms Milk Boutique for some super savings. Don't forget about the clearance section as some bras are already marked down and you will receive an ADDITIONAL 50% off these bras too! This sale ends August 31st and inventory is limited so hurry on over! Happy shopping!

No frills, no fuss, a SIMPLE cloth wash routine!

This post is part of the Cloth Diaper Blog Carnival! The topic of this carnival is, "what is your wash routine".

When people find out that T wears cloth diapers they often look at me like I have three heads. They then follow up with, "isn't that a lot of work?". I'm not gonna lie, when I first began contemplating the idea of cloth diapering I was pretty overwhelmed with the vast amount of information all over the internet. At first it did seem to me like it was going to be a lot of work. There were so many diapers to choose from, how would I know which was the right choice for our family? In reality, deciding what diapers to use was actually a piece of cake compared to figuring out how to wash the diapers (or so I thought)! I was so intimidated with the various wash routines I found recommended online. Many of the routines seemed so complicated and time consuming. I knew that I would never stick to cloth diapering without a super simple routine. Simplicity became my mantra. I found that cloth diapering doesn't have to be overwhelming and time consuming. It can be as easy as using a disposable! Here is my simple, no frills, no fuss routine...

1. COLD rinse cycle with NO detergent

2. HOT wash cycle with detergent (I use Tiny Bubbles detergent), one scoop in a HE front loading washer and two scoops in a top loader.

3. Additional cold rinse cycle No detergent

4. SUN, SUN, SUN, on sunny days I dry all my diapers in the sun and then fluff them in the dryer on a 20 minute setting. The sun acts as a natural bleaching agent, kills bacteria, and leaves the diapers smelling fresh. In the winter I do one dryer cycle and then finish drying the diapers overnight on the radiators.

Once I had conquered the laundry routine I thought everything would be smooth sailing... Until my diapers started to have an awful stank. Ugh, now my diapers needed to be stripped and the stripping techniques I read about were even more daunting than the laundry methods I first encountered. In the past year I have had to strip my diapers once. Which, I think is pretty good since I have read that many people have to strip their cloth diapers every month or so. In my search for the simplest method to strip I found that the main reason for needing to strip diapers is due to detergent build up. It doesn't make much sense to strip diapers with detergent when the issue is due to detergent. Therefore I found that rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing with NO detergent in HOT water pretty much did the job. I also added 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle of the final wash (followed by one additional rinse). The vinegar helps to:

• neutralize the urine in cloth diapers
• equalize the pH balance
• eliminate soap residue
• deters the setting in of stains
• can help keep colors from bleeding
• acts as a natural fabric softener

I believe that the reason I needed to strip my diapers was due to a build up of detergent. When I first began cloth diapering I used detergent in both my first and second wash cycles (I was also using a different detergent). I was just using too much soap. It's funny how using too much detergent can cause diaper stank. One would think that more detergent would lead to fresher smelling diapers, boy is that wrong! Since I have changed my routine, I have not had an issue with build up or with stinky diapers.

And there ya have it, that's it. That's my simple wash routine. There are no frills, no fuss, and it gets the job done! I don't think it can get much simpler than that, and if it can PLEASE comment and let us know how!

Click the link below to find other blogs in the cloth diaper carnival and read about their laundry routines!

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Diapers.com coupon code

Are you looking for a great deal on diapers delivered right to your door? Use coupon code GREENIES to receive $10 off your purchase of $49 or more on diapers at diapers.com (plus receive free shipping). This online store sells a number of different diaper varieties including some environmentally 'friendlier' disposable diapers such as seventh generation, earth's best, and nature baby care. Sorry, but this deal is only good on disposable diapers and not any of the cloth diapers they carry. Diapers.com also honors all manufacturers coupons. All you have to do is mail in your manufacturer's coupons and upon receipt diapers.com will credit your account. One more great thing about diapers.com - you can order diapers by the case. Buying in bulk usually also means saving money! Don't forget to add code GREENIES at checkout to receive your deal!

30% off at Gymboree

If you know Daniella or I personally, you know we are HUGE fans of Gymboree!

Their Circle of Friends sale is going on today through Sunday which means 30% off everything (regular price AND SALE!) in store or online. To get the 30% off online, use code: GYMCLUB and purchases over $100 ship for free. A coupon is required in-store, but I have found they pass out the coupons when you walk in the store or sign up for their emails via the website and you should get a coupon emailed to you.

Additionally, it is Gymbuck earning time, so for every $50 you spend, you'll get a $25 Gymbuck! If you're not familiar with how these work, you can use a $25 Gymbuck like a credit when you purchase $50 worth of merchandise during the redemption dates! That's like getting everything you purchase for 50% off!

Shop on, ladies!

Added by Daniella:
I love gymboree clothing. I think the quality is great and pieces hold their value. I also know that I will get a fair resale price on items in good condition when I am done using them. However, gymboree clothes are pricey and at full price are way out of my budget. I have very strict rules when shopping for T. I can't fathom spending a lot on items that he may wear a few times or grow out of in a matter of months. So, my gymboree shopping rules are as follows:
1. I only shop during gymbuck earning time and gymbuck redemption time.
2. I only purchase items on sale and the items have to be at least 50% off the original price.
3. I attempt to never spend more than $10 on any one article of clothing. I usually spend much less than this but there are some things like jackets, holiday clothes, etc. that I may have to spend more than $10 on.
4. I only shop with a coupon. Coupons can often be found in various magazines. (Recently I found a 20% off coupon in the September issue of Oprah's magazine).
5. I only order online when I can get free shipping.
5. I keep all my receipts and don't remove tags until T is ready to wear the item. If I find the item marked down more than what I purchased it for I will re-buy the lower price item and return the one I bought at the higher price.

I recently added up my gymboree receipts for the last year and figured out that on average I only spent $5 per item of gymboree clothing that T has. That's a great deal because I should be able to resell it for that price and in the end I could break even!

Hope those tips help. Happy Shopping!

Free Udder Cover!

Udder Cover is offering a limited time promotion - 100% off their patterned and non patterned covers. Yes, you read that correctly, 100%! You can get any of their covers for free, all you pay is shipping and handling ($8.95).

"Go to www.uddercovers.com , click on "Shop Now" where it will then display all the nursing covers we offer as well as other products and sets. Select the product you would like and you will automatically be directed to the center of the page where you can enter in the promo code "backorder1"! This backorder promotion will give you a $32.00 discount off your total order no matter what you put in your cart! This promotion code is valid once per transaction so order as many times as you would like".

I have not used an udder cover, nor have I seen them in person. I have no idea what the quality of this cover is like. However, for a total of $8.95 I'm willing to give it a try! If you have tried an udder cover we would love to hear your input. What were your experiences with the udder cover?