I know nothing about it’s worth, how to thread it, oil it, or turn it on.  But if you know me… I am officially obsessed– and I had to share before I got too engrossed!  I know there are at least a few of you out there who can appreciate this!  I think the centennial plate may be a good thing…

I have a handful of bobbins, and what looks like all the accessory feet made for it…

…the original charming box…

…and the manual!

SO! Here’s the story… This belonged to my Grandfather’s first wife who passed some 30 years ago– who didn’t sew according to my grandmother.  It was passed to Grandma when she married Grandpa the same year I was born!  Grandma had a hunch that it was sorta something great so she got it serviced, and there it has has sat in it’s fabulous little black case ever since.  She says she hasn’t used it… but somebody has, there are a couple bobbins that have thread on them, but otherwise the machine looks pretty untouched!  CRAZY, right?

I pretty much feel like I hit the jackpot!  I am excited to figure it out, get it serviced if it needs it, and trek it to my LA MQG sewing days instead of my beast!  Thank you Grandma for bringing it back to me today, I can’t wait to show you what she can do after I get her all figured out!

I am going to dig for info, but please if anybody knows anything about this particular one I would love to hear from you!  I have a lot to learn I think!

…

…cloth diapering….

I finally took The Plunge and it ended up being more like a small hop, not so bad.

Honest!

I really REALLY wanted to do this when Ms. E was born, two years ago, but I chickened out.  I felt like I couldn’t handle one more thing on top of all the other changes, so I adjusted my goals, accepted defeat, and for some reason I didn’t address it again until Mr. A came to stay.  I blew through all the disposables that seemed to make their way into the house for free and finally took my first trip to Target to actually BUY diapers when the reality set in.  While standing in the diaper isle, the epiphany that I was going to have to buy TWO SIZES hit me!  I know! Crazy, how that works!  As with most things in my life… I. had. a. PLAN!  I marched right on out of there with just a package of pull-ups, a determination to potty train Ms. E the next day (I had been putting it off for a couple months), and a scheme to get some magically-smart diapers asap!

I called up a couple of late (but very considerate… they wanted to make sure to get me something that I wanted) gift givers, g-ma Clare & Aunt Brandy, and pitched them my plan.  By the end of the week six of these beauties were on my doorstep, and I have since added six more.  So now we are a BumGenius operating household of 12, and doing wonderfully!

see… (this was after Mr. A braved his fourth month shots)

Here is where the non-crazy part comes in.  They are the most simple darn things EVER.   They go on just like a diaper, no folding, no plastic leaky covers, no pins or fasteners, and virtually no staining… at least none yet that the sun hasn’t been able to take care of in a couple hours.  There is no rinsing for now, since he is still an infant, if you get my drift.  I just separate the inserts from the diaper, throw it all into a cold wash, then a hot one, and an additional rinse. Presto.  Line dry the fancy parts, throw the rest in the dryer.  Detailed washing instructions and troubleshooting, here.

One size will fit Mr. A his entire diaper career, thereby saving ME tons of money and guilt every time I throw the other kind away.  Did you know 1/3 of our landfills are diapers!  We do our part around here to conserve and purchases environmentally friendly when possible, and every time I took out that big ol’ diaper genie of diapers I felt like I was voiding our efforts.  There are so many alternatives to strictly disposable diapers now too, even hybrid options.  I guess it is no surprise that I choose the most high tech option I could find, (no comments from you, Mr. K, you hear me?!) but this time I’ve got economics on my side.  Even at 18 bucks a pop, they pay for themselves quiet quickly– especially since my first six were gifted, woohoo!

Now, what about the wipes you ask?  That is what I have received the most questions about when you guys have seen me changing his fancy new pants.  Oh you just wait!  I’ve got a whole blog about that too!  Riveting. I know.  Tomorrow, promise.

In the mean time, do any of you cloth diaper?  Or did you?  Do you want to?  Or am I more off my rocker than I am willing to admit?

They are having a giveaway, a bike each week!  And since my last giveaway entry went so great, I thought I would see if I could keep that trend going… or perhaps I have already run out of winning karma, I’m not sure how that works.  In any case, I have long since passed the luxury of having a bike since I have two kids and crap stuff to haul around all the time.  This will go just perfect with my fantasy life I will someday have in Portland with my weekly trips to the farmers market to get biscuits & gravy, flowers, and jam.  I can be her, I know I can!  If only I had THAT bike!  It comes with seat belts, people!

Thank you Camille, the creator of Cotton Blossoms, soon to be released Simple Abundance, and a myriad of great patterns available in her Etsy shop!!  And your snicks are in the mail just as soon as I figure out where to send them!  EEEEEEKK!  Happy Belated Birthday TO ME!

Keith, err Ella, so cleverly ordered two fantastic items from my Etsy Wish List, these prints from Emily at The Black Apple and these perfectly great earrings. I am in love with both equally– I have worn my earings everyday, but I am so much enjoying the new prints in my dining room as I sip my tea in the mornings, I can hardly stand it.

These are Ribba frames from from IKEA in 9×9, and I finally bought a mat cutter that I have been promising myself for months now (hence all the empty frames on my walls, for those of you who have visited lately) to custom cut the mats to fit the prints that came as 8.5”x11”. The mats are a much more dull white, more creamy compared to the white-white of the prints, so I am not sure if I will keep them this way yet.  But it was a great trial run for my new cutter and got them on the wall for me to gawk at their perfectness– the prints, not my cutting. I LOVE them, they are a fantastic twist on the age old silhouette portrait, AND a girl in a TEA cup, what could be more perfect for me? And the bird’s nest hair, holy smokes, I love them.

Dear Emily @ the black apple-
If you ever get around to doing more silhouettes I would be super happy and have just the place in my house for them to live happy and long adored lives. Please, please make more!

from,
Emily @ this humble blog

If you haven’t cut your own mats before, do it! I was a bit intimidated, which is why it has taken me so long to follow through with my plans for my other lonely frames, but the practice Ribba mats were so easy and turned out perfect that I have all the confidence I need now…. once I figure out what to put in the frames! I just followed the four step super simple direction that came with the cutter and it worked like a charm. When the time comes I plan to get my mat board from Michaels, which has tons to choose from and you can use a coupon, what’s better than that?

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