Real Clever Moms

Sometimes, I get tired of carrying the same old diaper bag. In fact, in a former life, I used to be a big proponent of the small, chic, unusual handbag. Since it’s hard to fit wipes and sippy cups into small, chic spaces, I’ve morphed in to an unwilling proponent of the bigger bag. I’ve found a big bag to get excited about, though, and it’s stylish, to boot. Created by Michelle, who is based in Houston, TX and mom to a son with Asperger’s syndrome, these bags (dare I say it?) put the “fun” back into functional. You can check out her collection at Hypernoodle.

I’ve recently found a sewing blog I love… despite the fact that I don’t have a daughter, and I barely have time to sew. Nevertheless, Kathleen’s sweet creations inspire me, and I love the fact that in addition to sewing for her girlies, she also finds time to sew giveaways. Check out the Pinata Pinafore Giveaway here. Ole! ~ Elisa

Over here at Real Clever Moms, we love giveaways. We are suckers for giveaways. We skirt very close to being OBSESSED with giveaways for moms, new parents, and people in general. So, we want to share some of the excitement with you. mod*mom has some of the best giveaways we have seen, including bedding from kukunest and compostable diaper starter kits from gdiapers:

If you start spending all your time during naptime looking at new products and entering comments, just don’t blame us.

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, we’ve got some fun, green ideas. Feel free to use them any day.
1. Recycle a Board Book into a Lift the Flap Book for your Toddler
Repurposed books are all the rage now among artsy types, but your kiddo won’t care about that. What she will enjoy is lifting the flaps of familiar places and objects to see friends and family underneath.

2. Reuse a Safe Water Bottle…
and stop using those BPA-leaching plastic ones that end up in landfills. Amazon offers SIGG Bottles for babies, kids and adults, as well as the Klean Kanteen, and Gaiam offers an inexpensive alternative to the popular brands:

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If you want to preserve memories for your family, but don’t have the time or inclination to scrapbook, consider making a digital photo book instead. You’ll be surprised how easy it is, and how incredible the results are (or maybe it’s just the glow of seeing your kids’ names and pictures in print). In this article, we’ll review eight options available to you: one do-it-yourself, five web-based photo-printing companies, one online book publisher and a photography company specializing in coffee-table books.

We tried to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges here, so we restricted ourselves to hardback books, but we did try to cover a range of different options. Most of these books require you to upload your photos to an external server, and this can take a long time, depending on how many photos you have. All of these services allow you to save your work to reorder later, and some do give discounts if you order more than one at a time. Happy photo sorting!

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This is easily the best applesauce I have ever tasted. Warm, it would be delicious over vanilla ice cream. If you have access to organic fruits, you can make it all organic. Who knew applesauce could be so exciting and so simple?

Healthy Homemade Applesauce

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Zest and juice of 1-2 large navel oranges
3 lbs. sweet red apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
3 lbs. green apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1/2 c. packed brown sugar (optional) or 1/4 c. turbinado sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground allspice

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Okay, we admit it: this post is really for moms who knit. And how many moms who knit also have TIME to knit??!! Not so many, we know. But this is the cutest knitted sweater ever, and we wanted to share the link to the pattern so that you can drool or dream about when you had time to knit, or maybe even get motivated to carve out some time to make this adorable sweater… imagine it in chocolate brown with the ears lined in pink! Some moms knit while spending couch/TV time with hubby, and on a quick and easy pattern like this, it might just be possible (to finish before next fall, that is). Pattern available at Woman’s Day Crafts.

Sometimes, you just have to share the love… and these booties do the same. Hand crocheted and felted by a mother-daughter team based in Portland, these darling booties will keep your baby’s feet warm, and a smile on her face. (Boys’ designs available, too!) Click on the picture at left to visit Pretty Little.

Every so often we come across a recipe and find we can use it over and over, adding, changing, refining, perfecting. Okay, so it’s not exactly a fine champagne, but we like this pizza dough so much, we really can wax eloquent:

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
2 1/4-2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (if you’re not feeling adventurous or healthy, you can use white flour, or a combination)
1 teaspoon salt
olive oil

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You need some good wine and good cheese.

Don’t let that overwhelm you. Pick your favorite three or four wines, and your favorite three or four cheeses, and be sure when you’re choosing to create some variety. If you live in the central Texas area, head to Sam’s Club, Whole Foods or a Central Market. You’ll find a great selection. Some perennial favorites are fresh mozzarella, smoked Gouda, and Danish Havarti. Go ahead and start sampling cheese a few weeks in advance. This may save you some unpleasant surprises. Start to stock up on wines early, as well. It will be easier on your pocketbook, and you can always sample that, too. If you don’t know where to find good wines… you should probably pick a different party to host.

Read the rest of “How to Host a Wine and Cheese Party” »