Soother clip tutorial

Soother clips are invaluble, we use them for everyday, to keep toys in the stroller, to make sure balnkets aren't lost, to keep a sippy cup off the floor and even to keep soothers handy and clean.
The thing is I alwaays wanted to have 3 or 4 of them and they are not cheap so I started making my own. It's super easy takes about 5 minutes can be done with or without a sewing machine, and each clip costs about $0.70 to make.

All you need is about 10" of 7/8" grosgrain ribbon, a clip, a couple of snaps or velcro, a lighter, a neddle and some thread or a sewing machine.

You can order plastic clips to make your soother clip or you buy metal ones almost anywhere sewing supplies are sold, check the dollar store, they are labeled as suspender or mitten clips.

Step 1 - cut and seal your ribbon
Cut a length of ribbon about 10" long, use the lighter to melt the raw edges of the ribbon so it will not fray.

Step 2 - attach your clip
Feed the ribbon through the slot in the clip, fold the ribbin over the slot an tuck the raw edge under so it is not visible. Sew the fold down using a straight stitch.

Step 3 - finish the other rw edge
fold the other end of the ribbon over about 1/8" from the end, then fold again incasing the raw edge. Sew down this seam with a straight stitch.

Step 4 - add a snap or velcro
fold the loose end under creating a loop to hold the soother, follow the directions for your snap tool to attach snaps or sew on velcro to close the loop.

Options and Cautions
- use a clip on both ends to make sure baby's blanket stays in the stroller
- use a toy link instead of a clip to attach toys to the stroller or infant seat
- to avoid entanglement the finished clip and ribbon length should not exceed 8"
- never use any kind of soother or toy clip in the crib.

Here's the full tutorial in video format, enjoy.

Can't Wait to Quest again!

I hope all of you participated in the first ever Green Quiz Quest. If not you missed out on an incredibly fun oppurtunity to win a ton of great prizes but don't despair I hear there are plans in the works for the second Quest to begin in Januray 2011.

"What is a green quiz quest?" you ask. Well simply put it is a "green" product scavenger hunt. Quest sponsers submit riddles which lead to a specific product or page on their website, it's up to the "seekers" to figure out the riddle and find the product page marked with the "riddle solved" badge. Once a seeker finds the pages, the URLs are submitted and as long as 80% are correct answers the seeker gets an entry for the awesome prize packages. This quest had a grand prize with an estimated value of over $1300 including cloth diapers, wipes, green cleaning products, reusable lunch bags, mama cloth, wetbags, even reuable glass drinking straws!

I had a blast trying to figure out the riddles, some where easy and some not. I got my mom involved and even my husband started trying to solve a few. I learned about a bunch of products that are availible and a few things I had to buy. Waiting for the winners to be announced on the facebook fan page was the best part, even my son was practically vibrating off his chair as I refreshed the screen every 10 seconds.

So long story short if you missed the first quest make sure you don't miss the second. I can't wait for January.

Back in Action

Well Hailey, our newest addition, arrived in early June and wow having 2 under 2 is crazy! Things are starting to settle down now and I have a few posts planed for the near future including
- Raves for the recent green quiz quest
- My experience with the rockin green hard rock formula; will I actually be able to use microfibre again?
- A quick tute on dying wool in the microwave
and more.....