A Wealth of Information - really!

Oh Geez, I am really bad at this blogging thing.  I will try to be a bit better.  

As you can see if you have visited lately I have made some changes to the blog.  My awesome Nifty Nappy™ website has some Malware thingy on it that I have tried and tried and tried to get off.  I keep taking it off and it finds a way back on.  I don't know what more I can do.  I am not giving up and I will still try to get my website up and going again.  

I have changed this blog so that now there are no links to my website.  Just information and pictures.  I also have a page in the menu bar with the list of my Cottage Licensees and links to their websites/facebook pages.  This way you can find the people who are making and selling Nifty Nappy™ products right now!   

In the mean time, I want people to have access to all the information so I have been trying to pull it off and put it in other places.  

The Lingo:

• I have moved this to my Facebook page notes, it is simply a crash course in cloth diapering lingo.

Reasons to Cloth Diaper:

• Here you can find three basic reasons to cloth diaper.   (on Facebook page)

General Care of Cloth Diapers:

• This care of cloth diapers article has basic care directions from how to wash, to stripping, to drying plus care of accessories.   (on Facebook page)

Cloth Diaper Safe Detergents:

• This is a list of cloth diaper safe detergents.  (on Facebook page)

Wool care:

• One of my good friends and fellow bloggers, Inquisitive Mom asked if she could make up a pdf of my wool care instructions and information and post it on her blog.  I was happy she wanted to help me get the information out there and to make it downloadable and printable for others.  
• On my Facebook page I have my wool information page and the care of instructions.  
• On my YouTube channel I have a video tutorial to wash and lanolize your woolies.  

FAQ and Answers:

• This list of FAQ is not just specific to my diapers.  It is a basic cloth diapering frequently asked questions and answers.  I think it has been very helpful to many people in trying to decide where to start in cloth diapering.   (on Facebook page) 

You Tube videos:

• This video demonstrates how to snap a front snapping diaper such as the Nifty Nappy™.  
• This video demonstrates how to stuff a pocket diaper.  I used a Nifty Nappy™ Peachy Keen Pocket diaper which has been replaced by the Nifty Nappy™ AI2 diaper.  
• This new born cloth diapering video tutorial shows how to fold a front snapping diaper like a Nifty Nappy™ to fit a newborn.  

As of right now this is what I have pulled off the website.  I have most of the tutorials and information.  If you are a blogger and you have posted guest blog posts by me or you have some of my information on your blog (not linked) I would love to hear from you.  Thanks for being patient while I try to work this out.  

Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com

oh look... I am still alive!!

The rumors are true I am still alive.  LOL!  
In fact I have been doing a few things.  I don't know if you follow my facebook page but I introduced a new idea.  I am going to be doing themed auctions.  These will be fun... you will be able to score a lot of OOAK (one-of-a-kind) Nifty Nappy diapers.  I am having a blast buying cute fabrics for this.  I will be making some diapers, covers, and swim diapers and then selling them in themes. 
Such as: retro, animals, characters, fairytales... like that.  
Fun huh?  Well... you wanna see a snap shot of what will be up for auction on Aug. 15th?  

I am calling it the "Stuck in the 70's"

Looks fun huh?  

ok... ok... you talked me into it.  LOL!  

So... ???  Tell me what you think!!  Comment away!  



Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com

Benefit Auction!!!

I am trying to help spread the word of an upcoming Kolcraft Silent Auction that will be benefiting the Michael Dayne Morgan Memorial Fund on the Happily Domestic blog starting April 25th. Beth at Happily Domestic has a very close friend, Lori, who just lost her husband to cancer. Lori is a stay at home mom to their 2 young daughters. However, with all the medical expenses and no income (there was no even a life insurance policy in place) this family is in a great need for help. Kolcraft has generously offered up a few of their awesome products for a silent auction to help the Morgan family.

Please take a moment to help spread the word on your blog, facebook, twitter or via email to your friends and family. They may not be interested in personally bidding on these baby items, but may know someone else who would be. Donations are also being accepted to help this family who needs support during this devastating time.

You can read more here about the silent auction as well as the Morgan family's story. Thank you for helping to spread the word!

Items to be auctioned:

Contours Optima Tandem Stroller

Jeep Overland Limited Jogging Stroller

Preferred Position 2-in 1 Bassinet & Incline Sleeper

Contours Innerspring Organic Cotton 2-Stage Infant-Toddler Mattress


PLUS... some NN's.  

1 Woolie Wrap custom embroidered... 

*winner will have to be willing to allow for embroidery time.  

1 Woolie Wrap (they choose gender)

1 Lil' Zoo Nifty Nappy fitted

1 Lil' Zoo PeachyKeen pocket

1 custom t-shirt Nifty Nappy diaper 

*(winner will send me a t-shirt I will make the diaper... they can choose fitted or pocket)

Head on over and bid on some!  

Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker

vilate@niftynappy.com

http://niftynappy.com

the beginning of the end...

A year ago I had no idea how far I would have come... I would have laughed to think I had 14 amazing retailers and a waiting list of 20 more. Thanks to my amazing customers though that is where we began this new year. There were times when I had more work than I could handle and I got backlogged.. you guys were amazingly forgiving of my human-ness.

I am so very, VeRy, VERY sad to have to sit down and write out this post.

I don't know if you guys have heard about the CPSIA ruling... but it puts me out of business!

It is regulations for lead testing for items for children under the age of 12. I would have to send my diapers in for lead testing to a third party every time I use a a new batch of snaps or PUL. At $40 a pop I can't afford that. Plus I would have to have a tag on it that states the date, the batch, the lot #, the manufacturer, and contact info. I would have to keep track of each diaper I made... and when I used a different fabric it would be a different lot # and different snaps or PUL would b a different batch #. Sounds confusing? Well it is.. I am not very business oriented and I would have a hard time keeping track of all this... plus the tag would have to be like HUGE. :(

I can barely keep up as it is now ladies without all this added on!

I can't speak for others out there that are WAHM's... but I can't just ignore the law. Some will choose to, some don't even know about it, and some will manage to comply, but some that will be the end of.

I was so excited with were we were going! I had new products... care of products... soap nuts, a lanolizing potion, wool dryer balls, training pants.  I even have some new fabrics too. 

You all know how much I LOVE my diapers... and my retailers ... and my CUSTOMERS.

This is so hard for me to do. BUT in the end... I think it may be a good thing for my family.  My hubby is pretty burnt out on snapping diapers for hours a night. And my kiddos don't get to have things made by mama cause mama is always too busy. So maybe a blessing in disguise? I am trying to look at it that way or else I wouldn't make it through this.

I get all teary eyed when I think about not making diapers... not getting any more cute pics of your adorable little ones in their diapers... about losing some amazing friends I have made in the cloth diapering community.

I hope that last part doesn't happen... I plan on sticking around... Nifty Nappy will still be here.. just not in the same way. I do have some ideas rolling around in my head. I just will not be making and selling diapers anymore.

I plan on keeping my FB page... and my webpage... only there will be some changes of course... but I will keep promoting cloth diapers!

****** So the details? a month... that is how long we have... *******

on Feb. 10th I will stop selling my diapers.. (retailers may still have some in stock... but I will not take more orders after the 10th)

That gives you a month... if you have put off buying a Nifty Nappy diaper put it off no more or your chance my be gone!!!

Over the next month I will try to have some fun giveaways and stuff!!! Watch for sales from retailers and such!

I want to go out with a BANG!!! Can you help me do this? I need this to be a fun time... I need to not think about what I am letting go. :(

Thanks so much for all your support!  I am so happy you all love Nifty Nappy so much.

I have amazing friends and fans... SAPsMaMa: Natural Parenting in the Modern Worldand EcoFresh Baby got together and made up a button for me. :) I wanted to share it with you... 

<br /> <a border="0" href="http://niftynappy.com/retailers/"><img border="0" width="200" alt="Nifty Nappy Cloth Diapers" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5349212277_8853a82182_m.jpg" height="200" /></a>

Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com

A New Year 2011!!

What do you have in store for the new year?  

I thought I would do a short post and share some of the ideas I have had.  
I know it has been whispered around that NN is gonna have some new products.  This is TRUE!  
I will not say what yet.  I am still in the process and what not.  
BUT I can say I am very excited about them.  This will be a new branch or two for our little NN family tree.  And they will fit right in!  
We are settled in our new home, and we fit very nicely in it.  It has been so nice to have a sewing space where I can have my stuff all in one place.  
I have also found a few ladies to help me with the sewing... I had considered going factory made for the convenience, but I want to MAKE the diapers!  I love to be able to make them.  I love when I hear from you guys that you love the diapers.  So I have brought a few other mama's from my area in and we sew away!  It has been fun to get to know these gals.  They are very dedicated and put their time and love into your diapers also.  
We have new prints that are now up on the webpage and we are working on adding Organic Cotton Velour to our inserts.  The Organic Bamboo will still be available when we do this... so don't fret if you love the OBV!  


How fun!  Do you have any thoughts to share?  


Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com

Join in the Trick or Treating!

Oh, I love Halloween!  When I was little I would get so excited about the colors and the decorations, but I especially loved the trick or treating.  BUT... then adulthood set in, and it just isn't ok to dress up and play.

Two really great mama's though have decided to bring back the fun to Halloween.
They are planning a fun Trick or Treating Event that you and I can participate in.  YAY!!!

So how can you participate?  This is like all those scavenger hunts that they have had... there are sponsors offering prizes, and you visit there page during the right time and find the hidden picture and return with your answers.

Where do you sign up to participate?  Well you can visit the webpage:
Mama and Ruby's Ultimate Trick or Treat


Or you can visit their facebook page: Mama and Ruby's Ultimate Trick-or-Treat on FB

I am Proud to sponsor!  Go get signed up for all that FUN!!!

Happy Diapering,
Vilate


Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com

Giveaways...

Here are a few more Nifty Nappy Giveaways.  :)  


This one is a new mama to cloth!  This is the FIRST cloth diaper she has used... as one of the entries she asks for a cloth diapering hint from you.... Go help her out cloth diaper pro's!

Blogging Momma Drama

This one is for a pair of longies!  YAY!!! With fall and winter coming on wool will be great!  

Oh Baby O!

Happy Diapering

Vilate Thacker
vilate@niftynappy.com
http://niftynappy.com