Monkey Toe Diapers Happenings

Monkey Toe Diapers Will be closing Summer of 2009

2009-04-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hi There

I have finally chosen when I want to shut the doors and it will be the summer of 2009.

The game plan now is that we are going to be selling off our diaper inventory via Auctions. We will be using 2 sites. Our auctions stores are at:

http://hyenacart.com/MonkeyToeDiapers/

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/suzybee1972

All auctions will be starting at .99 and flat rate shipping of $5 no additional shipping charges for multiple items.

This is step 1

Then Step 2 selling off business assets

~We will be listing all of our fabric for sale once our auctions are done. We will be having Knit Prints, Flannels, Woven Cotton Prints,Micro Fleece, Bamboo Velour, Bamboo Fleece, Sherpa, Cotton Birds eye and Cotton Velours coming soon. Shipping on these items will be actual shipping costs.

~We will also be listing 2 sergers for sale

~You will also be finding Sugar Plum Baby up for sale
Includes diaper Pattern
Large Lot of Labels oh about $1000 worth
Domain Name and Web Site Template and Graphics

~Also other sewing notions and labels

These items we are working on the price for and they will be coming soon.

No we will not be selling Monkey Toe Diapers. I will be holding on to it and my Very Baby License for the future. Once my son is little older and my house stuff I want to do is done, I may come back to on a small scale sewing Very Baby Diapers and Fern and Faerie Items. For now I am closing to focus on my family and home. I do intend on maintaining a blog to just share random info I come across and my blunders and wonders in life.

Thank You
Susan Mraz

01/30/2009

2009-01-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

I am closing Monkey Toe Diapers sometime in 2009. If any are wondering Yes I will sell the domain Name and Business Name sometime in the future but I need to sell off my inventory and Fabric first.

Currently the main web site is at 20 to 40% off all inventory please visit:
www.monkeytoediapers.com to check out the savings and what is left.

Also we are running some great auctions at http://hyenacart.com/MonkeyToeDiapers/

We have not done it yet but we also own Sugar Plum Baby We need to update this site but if anyone is interested this is for sale. Domain Name, Web Site Template, and Graphics on the web site. Also we have the Sugar Plum baby Diaper Pattern for Sale as well. Only serious inquiries please.

Thank You
Susan Mraz

November 13th Pumkin Bread in the Bread Machine

2008-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

I know this is not diapering but I have been looking for something to journal about and I will share some of it here. I am choosing to journal about recipes and cooking. I only sell diapers now and I do not have to use them on my son anymore so I would like to have more of a purpose for this blog then just business announcements.

Here is a recipe that I found at Bread-Making.org

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Pumpkin bread ingredients

Makes a 1 ½ lb Loaf 16 servings	Ingredient
⅔ cup	Warm water (110^oF/45^oC) *
¼ cup	Brown sugar (packed)
2 ¼ teaspoons	Bread machine (dry fast action) yeast
3 tablespoons	Dry milk powder (non-fat)
2 ¾ cups	Bread flour
¼ cup	Butter
½ cup	Pumpkin puree (canned or Fresh Cooked)
1 teaspoon	Ground cinammon
1 teaspoon	Ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon	Ground ginger
1 teaspoon	Salt

* Ideally, use an instant read thermometer to check the water temperature accurately. If you don't have one, it's best to play safe and use cooler water. Having the water too cool will just slow down the yeast's action, but too hot will kill it. Place a drop of the water on the inside of your wrist. If it feels neutral or just slightly warm on your skin, it will not harm the yeast.

Pumpkin bread method (bread machine)

This recipe will work if you use the ingredients in the order suggested by your bread machine manufacturer (add the pumpkin puree along with the water and the spices in with the flour. Then just set the machine to a basic white loaf setting and press start.

Alternatively, for an even better tasting loaf try ignoring your machine's instructions and use the following method (unsuitable for timer use)

Put the warm water, pumpkin puree, sugar and yeast into the bread machine pan
Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon - the yeast should dissolve and begin to froth and foam
Leave it for ten minutes
Add the flour, dried milk and spices, butter and finally the salt
Set your bread machine to basic white bread and press start

What attracted me to it is that it is Pumpkin which I love and also uses my bread machine I am not a huge fan of baking bread on my own. More details on how it turns out later. The machine is doing its stuff now. I can not wait to try it.

Delay in this weeks winner

2008-10-27T03:47:00.000-07:00

We have a delay in announcing this weeks winner because I did not hear back from the person who was drawn and I gave them until Monday am. A new person has been drawn and once they confirm the winning email I will publish their name I did not want you to think I was forgetting.

This weeks winner will receive the 10%off Discount link for www.monkeytoediapers.com

I will be announcing soon,
Susan

Cloth diapers the simple choice. You can feel good about doing laundry but do you really feel good about taking out the trash?

Our Web Sites

2008-10-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

All of our sites.

ok we are amassing some web sites and I guess I just wanted to make a central list so here it goes:

Our main store and web site the place you will find most of our information and store.

This is a Diaper Brand I own and really need to do more with this site and it is one of my goals to improve on this site in the future. This site needs major updating and that is a big thing for me for 2009.

We have taken a stab at a local diaper service and have chosen not to pursue this. But we are still working on expanding our wash your own rental packages.

Our discount and discontinued items site

We are starting some mini sites as to help promote more of our products and here is the first 1 I put together.

Updates to our Prefold and Cover Packages

2008-10-16T05:37:00.000-07:00

As a smart minded parent you want to be able to be good to your babies future with protecting the environment and save some money. Well you will get that here.

Well I have been busy this week re-working the Prefold/Cover Package deals. I want to give you more affordable options and an easier way to shop the packages.

With all of the Economy Prefold and Cover Packages I made an individual listing for each of the 4 prefold sizes. Newborn, Infant, Premium and Toddler. All of these packages are Diaper Service Quality Indian Cotton Prefold from Baby Textiles and you can have your choice of Dappi Diaper Pants(Yes the traditional dreaded plastic pants but you really can not beat the cost at $5.99 a 3 pack.), ProRap Diaper Covers or Thirsties Diaper covers. All of these packages are 10% off the MSRP and most will qualify for Free Shipping.
I revamped the Mega Prefold Packages making the Large size covers optional instead part of the packages. Babies just sometimes do not get that big.
I have also added a new Mega Prefold and cover Package. This package consist of Diaper Service Quality Chinese Cotton Prefolds and Kushies Premium Diaper Wraps at this time this is the only package we are offering with the DSQ Chinese Cotton Prefold.

I hope by reworking these packages that it makes your shopping experience easier and more affordable. Hands down DSQ Prefolds and covers are the most durable, money saving and Go Green way to diaper your child.

It is said that 1 child can make 2 tons of land fill garbage in there 3 years in disposable diapers. Assuming they are in single use diapers for 3 years and your monthly cost of the diapers is at the low end of $50 a month over 3 years that is $1800 you have sent out to the curb to be taken away to the land fills. Keep in mind that they are estimating that is will take 200 to 500 years for 1 diaper to break down.

The Prefold and Cover Packages in most cases can diaper your child from birth to potty learning for $500 or less. I combined the Thirsties Mega Package with the Toddler Economy Package to come up with that number assuming you may have a large baby like I did and need those Toddler size diapers in the future. That means that these diapers will start paying for themselves in 10 months and on top of that you should be able to reuse most of these diaper on a second child which will save you even more money and even less garbage being taken to the curb. Lets feel good about doing laundry, less trash at the curb and more money in our bank accounts.

Wow it is October Already

2008-10-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it is October already? I can not. I really want to have so much more done then I have but oh well family does have to come first.

Here is my game plan for the rest of the year:

1. Get all of my book keeping in order.
2. Do Inventory and clearance what we want to get out of.
3. Clean up the web sites

I am sorry I will not really be doing any sewing for the rest of the year. I will however be prepared to be sewing like a mad woman come January. So there will be no new Sugar Plum Baby or Very Baby until 2009.

Do not miss out we are still having our Free Stuff Give Away in October as a treat for you. Please visit our website to find out how you can get a chance to win.

I will be talking to you soon.

Susan Mraz

September Happenings and New Stuff

2008-09-05T02:50:00.000-07:00

I am so not able to sew like I plan. I am sorry for that family comes first and sewing comes last but hey that is why I got rid Custom Orders and sew on my time. I do apologize for that.

The good thing about fall and winter coming is Bad weather more time inside means more time to sew. HA I finally found the silver lining for the gloomy Fall and Winter weather of Upstate NY.

Sewing Plans for September:
~This week MMOS
~Week of September 10th Very Baby Hybrids
~Week of September 17th Bamboo diapers in MMOS, Very Baby and Sugar Plum Baby and this will continue into October.

Monkey Toe Diapers will no longer be accepting new Diaper Service accounts. We will honor our existing accounts for as long as they need us. We are stepping aside to allow a better organized group that can handle a larger number of accounts. Please visit Not Your Grandma's Diaper Service to find out more. They are rolling out new to the Greater Rochester Area. Click on this link to find out more:
Not Your Grandma's Diaper Service

Monkey Toe Diapers is proud to be offering some new products:

~Fuzzi Bunz
~Mums Bums Pockets
~Knicker Nappies Disposanat
~All Together Fitted Diaper(will be available for shipping soon)
~Gerber Training Pants(will be available for shipping soon)
~More Cloth Diaper Packages and adding more every week
~Happy Tushies Hanging Pail Liners
~JamTots Eezi-fold Quick-Dry Hemp Fitted Diaper
~Coming Very soon Diaper Service Quality Genuine Chinese Cotton Prefolds.

Thank You for stopping by

Susan

Sewing Update 08/07/2008

2008-08-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a little sewing update:

Ok I am struggling this summer to really find time to sew. But this week I am able to do a little. Right now on the cutting table is Organic Cotton fleece diapers. I kept these simple. There is no prints on them the only embellishment is the lime green snaps I used and the green thread. I just wanted to stock a basic work horse diaper and you really can not get better then Organic cotton fleece. I had the naturalist in mind when I did these diapers.

I will be next week cutting out Organic Cotton Velour diapers.

These are all Sugar Plum Baby Diapers and I am making 2 in each size. XS,S,M,L

But sadly my supplier of Organic Cotton Fleece is no longer carrying this fabric so this will probably be my last round of Organic Cotton diapers. I still have a lot of organic cotton velour and will in the future be making OCV diapers but these will have hemp or bamboo fleece hidden layers instead of organic cotton fleece.

Happy Diapering
Susan
www.monkeytoediapers.com

Clearance Items Have Been Moved

2008-07-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Monkey Toe Diapers has moved all Clearance and soon will be adding all second quality items to:

www.hyenacart.com/monkeytoediapers

Everything will be available for purchase 07/15/2008 at 7 am

I am doing this for business reasons. Since I have started offering Free shipping I have been also seeing a lot of returns so in order to make it and keep it clear that Clearance and Seconds items ALL Sales are final I have moved them to their own store.

This site no coupons or free shipping but I am also offering these items at much lower prices then what I would have done on the main site.

At this site things are simple:

No Returns or Exchanges of any kind ALL SALES ARE FINAL
Flat rate shipping of $4 for the first item and $1 for each additional item and when you purchase 2 or more items your package will be sent Priority Mail
Flat Rate shipping for international customers of $8 and $2 for each additional item
NO combining shipping with orders at www.monkeytoediapers.com
All forms of PayPal will be accepted
All items at this site are second quality, discontinued or we choose not to carry them any longer items and that is why you are seeing rock bottom prices.
You have 48 hours to make payment or items will be restocked.
Coupons from www.monkeytoediapers.com will not be accepted at this site

MMOS Droop issues and others

2008-06-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

To add a hip snap or not.

I know some of you mom's out there are having droop issues with your single sized diapers and think that adding a hip snap will solve the problem, but what you are not thinking about is when your baby is a larger size. Just adding the hip snap will reduce your diapers waist size for the larger sizes and this diaper will no longer fit until potty learning.

Droop issues happening with diapers like Mosaic Moon One Size or Cuddlebuns may be fixed by doing 6 simple things:

Snapping the waist tighter
Making sure you have the rise properly fit
Making sure you are folding the diaper correctly
Contact the store you purchased the diaper from for help. The wahm who made the diaper will be or know who is the expert on fitting the diaper properly instead of giving up and selling your diaper or asking your friends who's baby is a different size and has no issues this will just frustrate you more.
When wanting to try these types of diapers do yourself a favor and only get one test it out see if the diaper will work. We all like to think that the diapers we make will make everyone happy but that is just not the case.
You may just need a good snug diaper wrap cover. We all may not be able to go without covers.

Snapping the waist tighter:

I know we fear that we will cut off our babies circulation but we do need to make sure all diapers are good and snug no matter what you are using. Just not tight that they can not breath.

Making sure you have the proper rise fit:

Line the back of the diaper with your little one belly button
Fold the front of the diaper up
Then fold or snap down the front of the diaper to the point were at least your little one belly button is showing. (1 thing to keep in mind when folding down the front of your 1 size diaper if you do not have at least 1 full inch the diaper will unfold and it maybe time to leave the rise fully extended. You need something for the wings to hold.)

Making sure you are folding the diaper correctly:

Why guess at this use your Wahm's to help you with this.

Here a suggestion on folding a Mosaic Moon One Size Diaper:

Step 1 Line the back of the diaper with your little one's belly button

Step 2 Fold in the sides of the front panel

Step 3 Fold down the front panel to the belly button level.

Step 4 Snap wing 1 nice and snug

Step 5 Snap wing 2 nice and snug

ok my picture taking skills are lacking today but I think this gives you a good idea on how to do it. And also I need to ship this diaper out and wanted to use it as my examples because it is just so freaken cute.

Contact the store you purchased the diaper from for help.

Buy 1 and try it first

This is probably the most important step. If you have never used the diaper before only get one test drive it first before buying more. I realize you are trying to be frugal and not pay shipping twice but are you really saving money when you find out this diaper is not for you and you have send them back or sell them for a loss. Remember not all diapers work on all babies no matter how much we try.

You may just need a good snug diaper wrap cover.

Keep in mind most fitted diapers are designed and intended to be used with a diaper cover.

Current Events

2008-05-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

This entry is long over due.

Monkey Toe diapers will no longer be offering Custom Orders this is so we can work on the following projects
Sew the great Mosaic Moon Diapers formally known as Pin head diapers. I love sewing them and I think it is a fantastic diaper
We will be releasing soon a Limited edition Sugar Plum baby diaper that is made with woven cottons and Micro fiber soakers. This serves 2 purposes 1. To give you a more affordable diaper and 2. So I can use up my large stash of Cottton Birds Eye that I have. I have actually wanted to offer these for sometime now but just have not done it. I am working to sew up diaper to get rid of my rather large stash of fabric.
Offer a small local diaper service to families in my local area. We do not have one and I want to promote and get people using cloth in my area. I will be handling up to 5 accounts at a time
Work more family and children's vendor shows in the area to promote cloth diapers. I am shocked by how little people know about cloth diapers.
Eventually get to the point where I am just making hemp and Bamboo fleece diapers with awesome prints and color and get back to making night time diapers.

But first I need to sew up the cotton diapers and these Sugar Plum baby diapers will consist of a Cotton print Flannel outer, 2 cotton Birds Eye body layers and a sewn in hidden micro fiber soaker. The pricing for these will be:

$12 for 1
$33 for a 3 Pack
$60 for a 6 Pack

We will be sewing Newborn, Small, Mediums and Larges.

We will be getting back to stocking all of the diapers we sew once I have used up these cotton fabrics but it will take time.

For Local Customers

2008-05-05T06:30:00.001-07:00

Hi there

I really want to promote Cloth Diapers in my Home town area. My husband Mark and I are talking about me running a small diaper service. We recognize that lack of one here in the Penfield and Rochester NY area.

I am going to start this blog entry as a way to see if there is in deed a demand for it. I know at least when I talk to people I have had several people say to me that they did not want to be bothered with washing them. The YUCK factor. They have said to me that they would have done it if they could have had a diaper service.

3 of the best reasons I can see for having a diaper service is:

A lot less waste
No runs to the store to buy diapers with cloth diapers being delivered right to your door step.
Someone else is cleaning and folding the cloth diapers for you.

I really do want to see if a diaper service is needed in the Rochester Penfield NY area and do my part to help Reduce Reuse and Recycle.

If you are interested please email me at diaperservice@monkeytoediapers.com

Please include in the email:

Your full name

Home Address

Email address

This is optional your phone number

How many children you have in diapers or are expecting

When you would like to start (Keep in mind we are not open for this but if there is a large demand we would be willing to do something about it)

If we offer a service we are looking at diaper service contracts of 4 weeks. FYI

Additional Local Service Monkey Toe Diapers offers:

If you are like me and wash you own cloth diapers and want to be able to play and buy you own, I also offer in home appointments in my dinning room you just need to email me at info@monkeytoediapers.com or call me at 585-672-1320 for an appointment, local customers only.

Mother Time Market Place

2008-04-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hi there

I just had to post. I worked my first booth at a show and I will say I was pleased, overwhelmed and excited how well Monkey Toe Diapers was acknowledged at the show. The consignment show was amazing to watch and the people were great to talk to and I was so very pleased to see a lot of Mom's(& dad's) interested in cloth diapers and I did not feel alone in the area as the only Mom that uses them here. I am always pleases to talk to and help people with cloth diapers.

I think consignment shows rock and what a wonderful thing to promote my biz at and I am so looking forward to seeing everyone at Batvia NY 05/09 & 05/10. If you are in the area you have to stop by Mother time Market Place.

Wired Up Designs

2008-03-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

I will say I love Love supporting other WAHM's. I have found Wired Up Designs these patterns are great for 2 reasons.

Easy to follow
She allows for limited sales of items made with them (50) with out needing to purchase a license.

I have a stash of wool fabric and heavy weight fleece I want to use up and I am going to use her Sweet Baby Soakers Pattern to use this up. I was happy to find this. I really did not want to pay for another license just to use some fabric for a limited number of items I wanted to sell. Also I love soakers like these I think they are the best with night time diapers. I will be slowly putting these out after I have finished all of the Very Baby 1 Size testers which are coming soon.

Here is the first soaker I whipped up while working on a custom order last night:

This is felted wool jersey and the main body is 2 layer. I think the next one I may play around with embellishing the back for a cute fun look.

I am just so happy to have found this. Yeah!!!!

A side note to all who are waiting on my testers I will be getting to these at the beginning of April. I have had a delay due to illness and a wonderful rush of custom orders. I will be closing customs April 4th so I can get all this other sewing I want to do done. Also, I will be at Mother Time Market Place consignment shows April 26 &27 and May 9th, 10th and 11th. My booth will be show casing Drybees/Wahmies, Thirsties, Sugar Plum Baby and all other items I sew. If you are in the Hamburg NY area April 26th & April 27th or Batavia NY Area May 9th & 10th, stop by and visit.

2008-03-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a more detailed image of the the quick dry style of the Very Baby one size diaper. I will be getting more images up soon of the lower rise settings and keep checking back for when testers will be available.

Look what is coming soon to Very Baby

2008-03-13T09:26:00.001-07:00

vb1sizesewnr66
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

Look what is coming a Very Baby one size fitted diaper. It has 3 rise settings for small, medium and large. This picture is 1 of a sewn in soaker and lay in doubler. Pictures and more info coming soon on the diaper and a snap in soaker version. Monkey Toe Diapers will be looking for testers soon on this diaper.

I am getting there

2008-02-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Barring my son's illness setting me back. I will be re-opening custom orders on Friday February 29th. I am going to be only offering fitted diapers(night time also) and diaper covers as custom orders for the time being. I may bring back AIO's in the future. I feel that my skills are best spent on the fitted diaper and covers. I love making these and these were always my first choice to use on my son. I will be opening Zephyr Customs at that time as well.

There will be another schedule closing of Custom orders from April 4th to April 25th. I am branching out to local market and have booths at 3 shows this year and I need this time to sew diapers and get ready for the first show. I am hoping that will be the last time I need to close custom until Oct 1 where I will be closed for the rest to the year. For my family.

Have a great day and will be talking to you soon.

Susan

Very Baby Fishy diaper

2008-02-04T05:40:00.001-08:00

Very Baby Fishy diaper
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

This is a wonderful design and I am going to auction it off as a set at www.hyenacart.com/monkeytoediapers

This is a size medium Bamboo Velour Very Baby Diaper.

I really loved making it and you may see more of them.

Susan

Zephyr Diapers Coming soon

2008-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

It is official I am an approve licensee to sew Zephyr Diapers.

I will be opening custom orders very soon for them. I am waiting on getting labels and the size 2 and 3 patterns. Once I have these in my hot little hands then I will get a couple sewn and pictures up and you will be able to order. These are a turned and top stitch diaper that are cute and I am so looking forward to sewing these for you.

Susan

Fun Fitteds

2008-01-25T12:11:00.001-08:00

Fun Fitteds
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

These are with out a doubt my bread and butter diapers at Monkey Toe Diapers. Here is some very fun and cute diapers coming in February for your little one's.

Why not be cute and fashionable for the spring and summer?

Embellished Diaper Covers

2008-01-22T07:42:00.001-08:00

Embellished Diaper Covers
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

These will be stocked in the February stocking at www.hyenacart.com/monkeytoediapers

I will also be adding these soon to www.monkeytoediapers.com as a custom order option for diaper covers.

I love sewing these covers from www.diaperkit.com. They are easy and fun to embellish. I will be having embellished covers at a uniform price of $16/cover no matter what standard design you pick. Also there will be limited FOE colors available as well.

Susan

More previews coming soon.

The direction for customs at Monkey Toe Diapers

2008-01-21T02:01:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking long and hard about this and I have chosen to become a Fitted Cloth Diaper and Diaper Cover custom orders only. What this means for you?

You will be able to have a variety in fitted custom orders brands to pick from currently I am offering:

Working on getting my contract with and will have available soon:

Zephyr Diaper(sample has been sent to be reviewed) This is a turned and topped stitched fitted diaper with lots of potential.

Custom Diaper Covers:

Very Baby
Will be adding fleece wraps and in stock wool wraps
Fleece Bum Fuzzies
DK Covers- Coming soon offered in prefold package but will be adding individual orders and embellished covers.

I am no longer going to offer at this time AIO's. I may go back to them in the future but for now I want to focus on fitteds and covers. I prefer making them and they a more fun and less stressful for me to sew. This is my way of stream lining Monkey Toe Diapers. We want to be come your one stop shop for fitted custom cloth diapers needs.

I am looking to de-clutter my in stock brands soon.

Susan

Very Baby Simply Nights Diaper

2008-01-19T07:09:00.001-08:00

Very Baby Simply Nights Diaper
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

Here is how I make Very Baby Simply Nights.

The Body of the diaper is is 2 layers of Hemp(bamboo or organic cotton fleece) and 1 layer of micro fleece.

The soaker pad of this diaper is a tri-fold soaker. 2 layers of hemp or other fabrics and the center is topped with micro fleece. When folded you have 6 layers in the soaker for night time protection.

I prefer to make the tri-folds for 2 reasons:
1. It is easier for me to make
2. The most important is that they open up and dry quicker for you.

This is also available in side snapping and I do hide snaps.

You can start customizing yous today. Just click here:

The Lesson learned

2008-01-19T06:58:00.001-08:00

The Lesson learned
Originally uploaded by susanmraz

This really has nothing to do with my diaper business but this is a lesson learned with embroidery. I learned that is is best to use a sticky stabilizer or a spray adhesive when stitching on a knit and you will not have puckers. LOL

This will be proudly hung on the wall in my hallway it is still nice to look at.

Susan