Get crafty with these free printable iron-ons for your baby! Choose from two different iron-ons, “Breastfed and Lovin It” or “I’m the Cutest Baby at Babies Online” in sizes that work for babies of all ages. You’ll find printable PDF files for both designs and easy to follow instructions, all free!

Be a Babies Online star!

Send us a photo of your baby wearing your creation and we’ll consider featuring you in our gallery!

We even have a way for our not-so-crafty friends to share in the fun. Check out our Baby Gear Store for pre-made t-shirts, totebags, and more!

You’ll find this freebie and over 100 more on our Free Stuff for Parents page.

Enjoy!

Shannon @Babiesonline

My brother is moving across the country and decided not to move anything he couldn’t fit into his pick-up truck. He just gave away most of the things he isn’t taking—a big screen TV, a couch, a bed, a stereo receiver, etc. I was a little surprised at his decision, but after chatting for a while I discovered that he belongs to a group called Freecycle, dedicated to the starvation of landfills.

This coincides with an article I read last month in Sunset magazine about a group of friends that decided not to buy anything new for a year except food and healthcare items. It seems like I’ve been bombarded with this message lately, and maybe I need to soothe my conscience.

Whether or not you have enough money to buy everything you want, there is a growing number of people who don’t want to buy everything they want. In a strange way, this makes sense.

I hate throwing stuff away when it’s useful. But I am not a packrat. I’m not going to keep it around just in case I want it next year, nor am I the type to keep it around till next summer’s garage sale. So it goes into the trash most of the time. Sometimes with things like baby clothes I can give them away (but my only friend with a girl right now lives across the country). And sometimes I donate stuff if it’s too good to trash. I’ve tried selling a few things online, but it rarely seems worth the money and effort. And my local “used” mom/baby shop doesn’t pay enough to make it worth selling ($5 for a garbage sack full of excellent condition clothes and a clean booster seat?!)

But since my brother told me about freecycle.org, I can hardly wait to have something to give away. You post a message about what you have, and someone local who needs it comes and gets it. Or you can send a message looking for an item you want. There are few rules: nothing for sale, trade or barter—just free!

So my brother got rid of his things in San Francisco. Then when he sets up his home in Columbus, OH, he’ll just ask for what he needs there. What an idea!

Since babies go through a LOT of stuff in their first year, it seems like a fantastic way to get a lot of use out of something that isn’t worn out. Unless you have a lot of children, swings, bouncers, boppies, exercises and other things just don’t get used up. If you don’t have a friend who can use them, and you aren’t planning on having another little one in the next couple of years, why not give it away? Or maybe you need a highchair? You can find a local freecycle group online. Have fun!

I’m notoriously frugal, but I also care deeply about the things my kids are exposed to. I was brought up as a strict vegetarian and my parents were always very careful to make sure the foods I ate were as natural as possible, but back when I was a kid there wasn’t as great a prevalence of organic food and items readily available.

Now that I’m a mom I sometimes wonder if paying extra for organic items is worth the cost. Many times I have stood in front of something like strawberries and glanced back and forth between the regular and organic strawberries, wondering if I should pay extra for the organic ones or if it’s more important to save money.

I went to a reliable source to solve this dilemma. I chatted with Rod Olaes, Director of Marketing for EcoBaby, but perhaps more importantly, father to a four year old daughter. “Traditional clothing has a lot of synthetic materials in it and they use a lot of chemicals in the clothing to keep it the way it is.” He says that organic clothing gets softer with each wash and he doesn’t even have to use fabric softener anymore.

Organic clothing items have additional benefits beyond just how nice they feel. He says that children with eczema may soon find that their skin is not as irritated when wearing organic clothing instead of traditionally manufactured items. So not only are the clothes more comfortable to wear, but they are less irritating to the skin.

Sounds great, but what about the cost?

Organic clothing and other organic items usually cost more. Why? “Keep in mind that a lot of products that are organic are made in the U.S., and because the cost of labor is higher in the U.S. that’s something that we have to pay for as opposed to something that’s made overseas and that’s a lot cheaper.” Rod also emphasizes how important it is to support the local economy and think along the lines of environmental sustainability.

So the bottom line is this: Although I may have to pay extra for organic items, overall they are better for my babies and better for the environment. I don’t take much more convincing than that.

You can find out more about the items offered through Rod’s company at his blog. Be sure to also check out a really interesting website he gave me to look at: Pedoodles, a company that offers baby shoes made out of recycled materials. Now that’s cool.

I’m not normally a compulsively clean or organized person. So this must be the serious ‘pre-labor nesting instincts’ kicking in. I haven’t climbed any ladders to paint the ceiling yet, although I’ve made several trips up into the attic. (If you saw our attic, you’d think painting – toxic fumes and all — might be safer!) Until now, my ‘nesting’ has come in spurts; an hour or two of cleaning, followed by some freelance work when sanity set in and I realized, ‘What am I doing’ I hate cleaning!?

However, picking out baby’s ‘homecoming’ outfit for the hospital has been weighing on my mind. Yesterday, my sister asked me about it and I was proud to say I had not one, but two outfits decided upon, one in size Newborn and one in 0 – 3 months, and just needed to pull them out of the armoire. She asked if the blanket matched the ensemble, because it should. Apparently, they don’t let you out of the hospital with, say, a striped outfit and a polka dot blanket. I assured her that I had a whole matching themed Carter’s ensemble – purple with butterflies — complete with footie pajamas, mittens, dribble bib, blanket and hat.

At least, I think it has the matching hat. I swore when I opened the box, a shower gift from one of my aunts, that it came with the entire set, including the hat. The moment I saw this outfit, I knew this was the outfit I wanted the baby to wear to come home.

But I can’t find the hat. Anywhere. We stopped at Baby Depot last night and I looked for the matching hat, and they didn’t sell it. Now I’m in a panic. The fall lines are coming out; what if they don’t carry this ensemble in stores anymore?

My husband assured me the hat was at home. I’ve just been through all the baby stuff in the house, and I can’t find the hat! This is not like me. Well, okay, the part where I lose things? That’s totally me. But to obsess over a hat? Hats are just worn to cover up bad hair days. As long as they don’t sport a logo from a company that dumps toxic waste and are relatively free of cat hair, not much else matters.

But right now, it feels like the absolute Worst Thing in the Universe would be if the baby has to come home from the hospital wearing a purple outfit with (gasp!) a pink hat. What will everyone think? I’m sure the nurses will laugh at her. Look at that new mother, who couldn’t even find a hat to match the baby’s ensemble! She might be emotionally scarred for life, or develop an odd hat obsession; or a hat-phobia. Who knows what the ramifications could be? I even had a nightmare, last night, about the baby having to go home hat-less.

So I’m off to Target to try to find the matching hat. I want my rational brain back, the one that understands there are more important things in the world than a purple hat.

Because I’m back in school, we’re living on one income. As a family, we’ve had to cut back on many purchases and expenditures, and on top of that list is clothes. My clothes are so passe I think I hear last two seasons calling, asking for them back.

I like shopping like anyone else, but I can make the sacrifice while we’re working on our plan. My husband was never much of a shopper anyway, so wearing year-old threads isn’t much of a stretch for him. For some reason though, I can’t quite stand my daughter falling behind fashion-wise.

Now before I’m scolded for wasting money, and for being foolish with our expense, please know it’s not me – at least not mostly me – that’s supplying her brand name and new clothes. Grandma happens to be a generous stylist. So is Grand-Aunt and Great-Grandma. Not to mention I still have a ton of clothes from her my baby shower that are now just fitting her. So while she’s decked out in Gymboree, Baby Gap, Baby Old Navy, Baby Ralph Lauren, the newest kicks from Naturino, Stride Rite, I grit my teeth and pull on a fading blue jean, and a soooo last-season top.

For while I can make the sacrifice, I can’t seem to stand it for my daughter too. Isn’t it funny how everything surrounding our child is an instant reflection of our parenting, in the parent’s opinion? In my mind if she’s dressed well, she’s well provided for. It means we haven’t failed her. Now I know that the most important thing is that we love and cherish and nurture her. Yet, for her to be impeccably dressed is a boost to my Mama esteem. And a comfort to me that at least she isn’t going without.

Are you shopping for winter clothes for your baby? And has your child ever had a rash you couldn’t work out was the cause of? Read this before you hit the shops.

In recent months, several parents of children with mysterious rashes on their necks and shoulders have been blogging about what they suspect is allergic reactions and chemical burns caused by tagless shirts and dresses.

Tagless shirts, the ones with the size and the care instructions printed on the inside of the shirt, instead of the traditional tag, have become increasingly popular recently, as they are supposedly more comfortable to wear.

But parents have been speculating that their childrens’ rashes are caused by phthalates in the ink used to print the label onto the inside of the shirt. Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals, components of many plastics, that have garnered much bad press lately for their potential health risks. Phthalates make the plastic ink softer, and easier to print onto baby shirts. But phthalates are also reputed to be skin irritants, and have been linked to asthma and in large quantities, liver damage.

Carter’s tops have been blamed in most cases, and reportedly Carter’s have said that the problem, what they call a “rare allergic reaction,” is isolated to Fall 2007 clothing. A quick internet search reveals many cases of rashes before and after that date, caused by summer and fall clothing.

One mom blogger has photographs of her poor little daughter’s red neck she says is caused by Carter’s clothing worn this July. Another blogger needed medical attention for her daughter’s rash from a summer 2007 Carter’s dress.

And then there’s all these parents posting on a message board with tales of their children’s reactions to tagless clothes. It seems to be mainly Carter’s clothes, but Circo (sold at Target) appear to cause similar problems.

Has your child had a mysterious rash on their neck or shoulders?

I’m packing away my son’s summer clothes and thinking about what new sweaters and shirts he’ll need for his winter wardrobes, and I expect you are doing the same for your little one. I think that I’ll be looking for shirts with traditional labels, at least in shirts and pajamas he’ll wear next to his skin.

If you have money to burn, you probably won’t relate to what I’m about to say. I, on the other hand, watch our family’s budget like a hawk and don’t really splurge all that often on extras unless there is a viable reason for it.

That being said, allow me to tell you about how perplexed I am about parents spending a ton of money on clothes for their babies. I don’t know about your babies, but mine always pooped, peed, or spit up on their clothes on a daily basis. There were some stains that never came out no matter what I did (who says breastmilk doesn’t stain?!), but it never really bothered me all that much because I didn’t spend a great deal of money on their clothes. In other words, if their clothes had come straight from the racks at Baby Gap or an even more expensive store I may have panicked every time one of my babies appeared inclined to stain something…which really, was all the time.

My babies? Most of their clothes came from Target or the sales racks of other stores. I even bought some clothes on e-Bay.

I don’t even wear designer clothes. I fully understand the desire to make sure your kids have more than you had growing up, but does a two month old really care what the label on her onesie says?

I think not.

Please tell me if I’m way off base here, but I just really don’t get it. Maybe when the kids are a little older – and the clothes last longer – will I want to buy the very best I can find for durability’s sake. For now, though, Target and JP Penney will continue to outfit my kids.

Beyonce and Jay-Z married last month in an ultra-secretive wedding in New York, and now tabloids like the New York Post are reporting news that Beyonce is pregnant. The couple won’t even confirm that the April 4th event – flowers, family, close friends, everyone in white – was their wedding, but they applied for a New York marriage licence the week before and it sure looked like someone was getting hitched!

Beyonce was spotted with what looked like a baby bump in New York this week, and sources close to the couple apparently have confirmed the pregnancy. Many congratulations to the couple if the rumors are true.

Perhaps tellingly, Beyonce’s glittery, tacky clothing line, House of Dereon, which is designed together with her Mom, Tina Knowles, recently launched a range of girls – and baby – clothing. And not without controversy.

Adverts running in the press this week for the glittery, tacky, little girls’ clothes show very young girls plastered in makeup and accessorized with feather boas, looking like mini pageant queens. I’m guessing that the advert is trying to show how rich little girls play dress-up, but to me, it just looks nasty. It’s bad enough that magazines aimed at teenagers show skinny, rich kids dressed in barely-there designer clothes. And now the advertising world has to make six-year-olds feel they aren’t rich enough, skinny enough, or blinged out enough?

If Beyonce and Jay-Z really are expecting (and not just had a cheeseburger for lunch) I hope she’ll be thinking whether she’d like her potential daughter dressed and styled in clothes like the ones she has for sale?

You don’t need me to tell you that babies need a lot of clothes. The average baby grows out of 4 or 5 complete wardrobe changes in their first year. I don’t have a linen cupboard, it’s full of boxes of my son’s baby clothes saved for potential baby number two.

Baby clothes and bedding are almost universally made from cotton. It’s soft, washes well, and it’s breathable, making it the ideal fabric for baby clothes.

It’s also one of the most chemically-dependant crops grown today. Tons of fertilizer, insecticides, and herbicides are used on every acre of cotton grown. To grow enough cotton for an average t-shirt, 1/3 of a pound of agricultural chemicals has to be applied to the soil and plants. For one t-shirt! There is something wrong when the amount of pesticides needed to make a garment, weigh more than the garment itself. And surely some of those chemicals are retained in the cotton fibres that will be worn next to baby’s skin?

It makes the case for organic baby clothes very compelling. As demand has increased, more cotton farms are going organic, and the price of organic clothes has fallen. I remember seeing organic t-shirts for $50 each at a baby boutique a couple of years ago. Today an organic baby t-shirt can be bought for under $10 so now most people can afford to make at least part of baby’s wardrobe organic.

Baby Soy, Sckoon, Speesees, Under the Nile, and many more independent companies, all make adorable baby clothes, sleepwear and sheets from organic cotton. Most of these companies also say that they pay a fair price for their cotton, and are against using sweatshops and other unfair labor practices.

Big brands like Gerber are making organic onesies and the like, and retailers like Gap, Target and Walmart are getting in on the act too. Makes me wonder, if I buy an organic cotton baby t-shirt at (notoriously un-eco-friendly) Walmart, does one cancel the other out?

Babies need so many clothes, and they grow out of them so fast! What can you do with all those teeny onesies, pants, dresses and shirts?

The first thing that comes to mind is to save them for the next baby. Plastic bins or boxes are the best thing to store baby clothes in, or those plastic bags you zip up and suck all the air out with a vacuum cleaner. Store them somewhere in the house, not the garage or basement, to keep them dry and away from creepy-crawlies. The law of the universe, however, dictates that if you keep all your little boy clothes from your firstborn, the next baby will be a girl, and vice versa. It’s a good way to choose the sex of your next baby!

And if this little one completes your family? Women’s shelters, and teen maternity homes are usually in need of clean, good condition baby clothes, toys and supplies. Look in your telephone book, or contact your local United Way for a referral to a local charity.

Are you a crafty mom? Or can’t you bear to get rid of those tiny onesies? Why not turn those little clothes into a memory quilt? Ticche & Bea sell a $35 kit with all you need to make a quilt from baby clothes. Or, for an extra $40, they’ll make it for you.

One of the most frustrating things about baby clothes is how fast babies outgrown them. The cute outfits we bought just last week may not quite fit today. They might not even fit by the time they’re brought home and make it through the laundry. I literally had to cut my oldest child out of a set of coveralls once. They fit fine in the morning, but by nightfall they were too snug to get off.

So, what do you do with all of those outgrown clothes? The outgrown pile certainly does get overwhelming fast if the old clothes aren’t gotten rid of. Fortunately, there are several things that can be done with them that can either earn you a little money or save you money in the long run.

The first option is to take the clothes to a consignment sale. To find one, do a quick internet search for consignment sales in your area, or ask a local mother about the local sales. Consignment sales that happen once a season are growing in numbers as mothers are finding out how useful they can be. Not only can you sell your baby’s outgrown clothes, you can pick up new ones for much less than you’d pay for new clothes.

Another place to head is a local consignment store. These stores usually take a larger commission than sales, but they might fit more conveniently into your schedule. The latest trend is chain consignment stores that buy kids clothes, toys and baby gear. Once Upon a Child is one such chain, and it now boasts more than 200 stores across the U.S. and Canada.

If you don’t have the time to take outgrown clothes to consignment, and believe me, I understand, there are thrift stores that will gratefully accept them. When you donate to a thrift store you are giving low-income mothers access to them as well as boosting the charity that the store funds. Another advantage is of course the tax savings. Everything you donate to a thrift store is tax deductable. This saves you on your tax bill at the end of the year, allowing you to keep more of your money to buy more clothes after that next growth spurt.

Children go through clothes so quickly, especially in their first two years of life. You have no sooner bought them a few new pieces when you find the pants are too short and the shirts are too tight. So how do you dress your children during this time without draining your bank account?

I have found that you can get great deals on new or slightly used kids and baby clothes at consignment stores, thrift shops, and on Ebay. I can usually find excellent deals on brand name clothes like Gymboree, Children’s Place, GAP, and Old Navy. I also shop clearance racks online and in store in the off-season for summer clothes in the winter and vice versa. The key to this, however, is to make sure you know they will fit your child in that future season, otherwise you’ve essentially wasted that money, clearance price paid or not.

Buying clothes, even name brand, at the low prices found on Ebay or at consignment or thrift shops means I don’t get too upset if they become stained after being worn for a while. After all, I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for them! An added bonus I found is that if the clothes make it through your child and are still in decent shape you have the option of reselling them, so you get an even bigger return on your money!

This means of shopping has been great for our family as a way to save a little money and still purchase name brand clothes for our children. As a stay at home mom I feel that finding ways to save money is part of my “job” – it’s one of the ways I contribute since my pay comes in hugs, kisses, and smiles from my children.