Wool Longies and Wool Soft Soles Shoes [Review]

This post is part of the eco-friendly winter clothing series. Clothing and accessories that keep your child warm during the cold winter months can be natural and eco-friendly! This series is focused on handmade products sold on Etsy. Etsy is a great marketplace for finding eco-friendly, natural, handmade products that are going to last a long time. Belly Bear Baby Gear focuses on using what is available to make what is needed. Most of the products are made from repurposed/upcycled materials, including wool, cotton, fleece, leather, etc. Upcycled wool longies and wool soft soled shoes are a must for cold winter months.

Upcycled Wool Longies          ($20.00)
Wool Soft Soled Shoes           ($15.00)

Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Made from 100% wool
Made from upcycled/recycled fabrics
High quality stitching

Wool is my favorite fabric for staying warm in the winter months. After researching warm clothing for my toddler, I realized that almost all warm items are made with polyester fleece. While polyester fleece is great for staying warm, there are many downsides to using fleece. Polyester fleece is synthetic (petroleum based). While it can be made from recycled plastic, most of the time it is not. Polyester fleece is treated with chemicals to make it flame retardant. This is often done for baby and kids clothing. Fleece can cause overheating in babies. Wool is the best option for staying warm and reducing the amount of chemicals our family is exposed to.

Christine at Belly Bear Baby Gear has the most adorable and functional wool clothing for children. I received the Upcycled Wool Longies and Wool Soft Soles Shoes.

 

The Wool Longies are custom made to fit your child. Sizes are available from newborn to 3/4T. You can choose between wool and cashmere. Christine upcycles sweaters to create Wool Longies. I was very impressed with the softness of the pants. Lanolization and appliques can also be attached. The Wool Longies have a cuff at the bottom, which can be rolled to make the Longies shorter or longer. This feature allows the pants to be worn for several seasons. The top of the pants has a wide band. The band can be folded over to adjust for length.

If you plan on using the Wool Longies over cloth diapers, Christine can lanolize the Wool Longies for you. I opted for no lanolization. I use waterproof diaper covers under the Wool Longies. There is plenty of room for a cloth diaper.

The Wool Soft Soled Shoes are also custom made to fit your child's foot. Sizes are available from newborn to adult. They are made from upcycled wood, upcycled suede, upcycled denim or fleece. Christine uses scraps from her other creations to create the soft soles shoes. The shoes fit my 21 month old very well. He can wear them with socks or without socks. There is a hidden elastic that makes putting the shoes on and removing them easy. I loved that the Wool Longies and the Wool Soft Soles Shoes matched in fabric and color. My little guy is so adorable running around in this outfit.

Washing Instructions: Hand washing is recommended for wool. My preferred method for cleaning wool is to soak it overnight (12-24) in warm water with a mild natural soap (Dr. Bronner's Soap), rinse with cold water until water runs clear, ring out by rolling in a towel and lay out or hang to dry. Some people do wash wool in the washer on cold water. Remember, do not dry wool in the dryer on any heat.

I am very impressed with the high quality (fabric, design, stitching). With appropriate care, these two items will last for a long time and can be handed down. I love that the Wool Longies and the Wool Soft Soled Shoes can be worn by themselves or layered. The outfit, alone, has kept my son very warm. We have been spending more time in our cold basement. I do not have to worry about him becoming cold.

The Verdict: I would highly recommend Belly Bear Baby Gear to any mother and would purchase Christine's upcycled creations for a baby shower or a baby gift.

Disclosure: I received the above products to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. This post may contain Affiliate links. You do not pay more by clicking and purchasing through the link. I recently a small amount of compensation to support this blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are my own.

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Preparing For The Winter Months

I have been posting a lot of review and giveaway posts lately, so I thought I would share a personal post. I am grateful to try new-to-me eco-friendly and natural products. Maybe they will inspire gift ideas for the Holidays. In our neck of the woods, the temperatures have fallen and the clouds cover the sun most of the days. The trees have lost all of their leaves. Anyone who goes outside is bundled up tightly. I am glad to see that the neighbors continue to go outside for walks and runs, even with their babies. Aside from spending my days caring for and playing with a baby, keeping the house in order, and trying to get out of the house often, we are busy with the following activities.

Winterizing the Yard

I am always a little sad when it is time to winterize the yard because it means that the colder months are here. The garden has been cleaned up. I am letting the plants dry up and will till them under the soil instead of composting. This method will put nutrients back into the soil. I put away the garden hose and watering can into the garage. The rain barrel has also been put up. Bushes have been pruned back. I left some of the leaves that gathered around the front garden bed plants to act as natural mulch for the winter.

Preparing for the Holidays

Gift lists are traditionally exchanged among our family at Thanksgiving. Therefore, we have been busy creating a gift list for ourselves and the baby. Check out my Green Baby Holiday Gift Guide for eco-friendly and green gift ideas for a baby. This year, we decided to do holiday gift shopping online to save time, money, and be environmentally conscious. Buying online reduces our carbon footprint because we are not driving to the store. Yes, the item is still being transported, but it is only transported once instead of twice (shipped to the store and then we drive to buy it).

Working Out Indoors

I cancelled my gym membership a few months ago. Gasp! After having the baby, I preferred to spend time with the baby instead of going to the gym and putting him in the gym's day care. We recently bought a jogging stroller, so I am able to run during the day. My husband found our old Jillian Michael's workout DVDs. I will continue to run outside as long as it is safe with the jogging stroller and transition to the workout DVDs.

Decluttering the House

November and December have become our months for cleaning out clutter and donating old and unused items to Goodwill. We also save items for my parents' neighborhood garage sale in May. Even though we have done a mass decluttering of the house every December for the past 3 years, we always find something that we can donate or pass on to someone else. There is nothing better than getting rid of old and unused stuff that someone can find a use for. Goodwill and Freecycle are the best ways to find a new home for an old or unused item.

I cannot believe this year is almost over. We began the year with me being pregnant and preparing for the arrival of our first baby. We have experienced lots of joys, and some challenges, with this new chapter and we look forward to ending this year on a positive note by spending time with our families.

>> How do you end the year? How are you preparing for the Holiday season??
  

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How To Green Your Husband [#CTWW]

This week's challenge:

This week invite someone to join you in a green activity. Need some ideas? Invite a friend to go for a walk ... and perhaps pick up litter as you go. Ask a family member to help you plan and cook a meatless meal. Swap clothes, tools, books, etc., with a neighbor. Start a "green club" with your friends and meet occasionally to share green tips and ideas. Host an Eco-friendly cleaning party at a friend's home. Do laundry together ... or join forces to rake up leaves. Be creative and have fun. The idea, here, is to share an experience so that a green activity which you care about will become important to someone else as well.

The more I thought about this week's challenge, the more stumped I became. I was looking for a grandiose activity with a friend or family member. I wanted to make a big impact this time. And then I realized, that Change the World Wednesday Challenges are not about making a big impact. Yes, we would all love it if we made a big impact each time, but I feel this group of greenies is more about small changes by many people, which add up to big changes over time. I took a step back and asked my husband for his thoughts as we drove to Whole Foods. 

Let me provide a little bit of a background. From some of my previous posts, you might know that my husband hasn't quite jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon. Sometimes, he actively opposes my green efforts. He takes two sheets of paper towels, he throws something that can be composted in the trash, and he claims that he supports the plastic industry (when I want wooden toys for our baby). Most of the time, I think he does this because he feels like I am shoving eco-friendliness down his throat and mandating that things be done a certain way. Yes, I am a control freak! (LOL) Side note for myself: compromise more and he will also. Aside from these minor examples, my husband does a lot to reduce our impact on the environment. He cleans with all natural cleaners, asks which recycle bin something goes into, and even built me a garden cage a few years ago. 

Now, back to driving to Whole Foods. My husband thought about our weekend and listed a number of items that we did together. While I usually garden and take care of flower beds by myself, he helped me this weekend. While he was raking leaves, I came out with the baby and asked if he could help do a few quick things. He trimmed the peonies and placed in the compost bin, he helped pick a few carrots from the garden, and recommended some improvement to the garden for the next year. 

I reflected on these activities and realized that my husband has come a long way from gathering leaves into plastic (or paper) bags and setting out for trash pick up. We either compost the leaves, throw them over the back fence (lots of trees), or rake them to the end of the yard for leaf pick up. My lesson learned is that I need to ask him for help with garden stuff more often. Together, we can make a positive impact. 

I wonder if I could get him to give up some of the yard to expand my gardening....maybe I'll tackle this one next year!
  

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Hello Winter!

Ok, ok, maybe not Winter, but definitely a cold Fall! It seems like we skipped from 70 degree weather straight to 40 degrees with very low temperatures overnight that prompted me to pick the remaining peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. My running gear has transformed from shorts and a tank top to pants and a long sleeve shirt. And baby wearing, well...I don't know that I would call it. You decide for yourself. Let's just say that my husband's Addidas jacket make for a nice cover for the baby and me. I am sure the neighbors were wondering what the blue covered head sticking out of my jacket was. Either way, the baby and I had a nice walk around the neighborhood.

 

>> How is the weather changing in your area??
 

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Winterize Your Home - Yard [#CTWW]

This week's challenge comes from Jen.

This week, prepare your home for winter. Do at least one thing which will ensure that your winter is Eco-friendly. Need some ideas? Click HERE. If you are moving into spring/summer, prepare your home for the warm months ... you'll find some ideas HERE.

Or ...

If you've already prepared your home for the cold (or warm) months ahead, we'd like to know what you've done. Please include tips, ideas and any do-it-yourself advice.

I plan on doing several posts about our "winterizing process." Yesterday, I covered Heating. Today, I will cover the Yard. Our yard is pretty big and we have some big, old trees that drop an unbelievable amount of leaves.  Let me tell you how we are preparing the yard for the winter.

Yard Improvements:

1. Mulched leaves placed in compost bin, compost piles, flower beds, and garden. Mulched leaves provide protection for plants during the winter. In the garden beds, they break down to provide nutrients for the next growing season.
2. Dried flowers and plants removed and placed into compost piles and bin to bread down.
3. Rain barrel drained and stored. I was able to water every single plant, bush, and young tree. Next year, I will disconnect the rain barrel earlier so that I do not have a full barrel of water and have to spend over 1 hour pouring, carrying, and watering every single plant. (great exercise though!)

>>  How are your preparing your yard for the cold weather months?
 

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Winterize Your Home - Heating [#CTWW]

This week's challenge comes from Jen.

This week, prepare your home for winter. Do at least one thing which will ensure that your winter is Eco-friendly. Need some ideas? Click HERE. If you are moving into spring/summer, prepare your home for the warm months ... you'll find some ideas HERE.

Or ...

If you've already prepared your home for the cold (or warm) months ahead, we'd like to know what you've done. Please include tips, ideas and any do-it-yourself advice.

I plan on doing several posts about our "winterizing process." Today, I will cover Heating. We have been living in our house for 2 years now and we have been slowing making improvement to keep the cold out. Our house is 63 years old, so you can expect some drafts.  My husband and I swear that there is no insulation in the outside walls, especially in our bedroom. During the cold months, our bedroom pretty much becomes a "meat locker" because it is so cold in there.

Heating Improvements:

1. Thermal curtains in 3 rooms.  When we're home, we open them in the morning and close in the evening.  
2. Blinds and thermal curtains in the bedroom.
3. DIY tufted headboard (this REALLY helped to protect the cold from the outside wall).
4. Additional weather stripping on the front door and the walk-out basement door. [just added]
5. Extra blankets in the living room and bedroom. Temperature kept at 67 during the day when we are home and 64 at night or when we are away from home.
6. Caulking around the windows and the front door.

>>  How are your preparing to keep your house warm during the cold weather months?
 

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