Alipants

Alipants Blog is on the move

2009-11-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hello gorgeous followers .. yes all five of you!!

I know that I have neglected my blog something shocking recently, but I have a good excuse really I do! I have been working very hard with my graphic designer getting my beautiful new website up and running. Well today we launched the Alipants website, which contains my very own blog, so from now on that is where you will find me. Simply pop over and subscribe to my feed! See you soon

Ali xxoo

A guest blog!

2009-10-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quicky post this morning ... For those of you on the east side of Melbourne considering buying some eco friendly toys for your little ones for Christmas this weekend is your lucky weekend! Melinda, the owner of Eco Toys, has been invited to participate in the Casey cloth nappy expo. Entry is free so head down to Cranbourne and check out the beautiful toys Melinda has and save yourself postage costs!

Melinda kindly asked me if I would write a post for her blog about modern cloth nappies! Just follow the linky lew to view, I think it turned out rather well.

Whilst you are browsing the Eco Toys website sign up to their newsletter as there will be a competition very soon that may or may not involve winning a cloth nappy or two amongst other gorgeous eco treasures ;)

To market, to market ......

2009-10-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Alipants attended our second market on Sunday and what a busy day we had. The Minilala's showcase certainly caught the eye of most of the people that passed us by. I had quite a few people enquire if the Minlala's were covers for disposables ... and were quite startled to discover that they were in fact nappies! I had a lot of thrilled older ladies patting the nappies, I am sure that they wished MCNs were available back when terry cloth nappies were their only option. Lost of fliers were distributed and hopefully a few people were converted to the cloth side!

One of the most pleasing things for me on Sunday was that I received a lot of compliments on how professional my stall looks ... many thanks to my uber talented graphics designer Kate from One Tree Hill Design. I must apologise for the poor quality of the pictures of my stall, I had packed my rather fancy camera in the morning but somehow it never made its way into my car (I intensely dislike daylight savings, I struggle to adjust .. always have .. always will and it was rather cruel for daylight savings to begin on a market day) so my only other option was my phone which as you can clearly see does not take the best photos in the world *sigh*. Forgive me please .......

I was suprised by how many cloth users came up to say hello and drool over the Minilala's. I also had the priviledge of meeting the twin girls that are featured in the "Think outside the square" MCN advocacy brochure that the Australian Nappy Network have and their lovely mother Kate. I was really thrilled to meet them, I know that it kind of makes me cloth nappy nerd .... but so be it!

On the website front ..... Kate and I are working really hard on the website and it should be launched by the end of the month. I know that it seems like ages away but it will be worth the wait I promise.

THEY ARE HERE

2009-10-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry for shouting but I am excited! Take a deep breath everyone ... MiniLala's have arrived at Alipants and they are so pretty I am completely worn out just from patting them. I have taken a quick photo of them in their temporary home ..... I know they will find a loving and caring home with you :) (sorry Carli my photography skills simply do not do these nappies justice).The awesome suitcase they are sitting in was a fantastic find in the back of my mum's wardrobe; really it is the best kind of suitcase ... pretty and free!!

I know that you are all eager to see these beauties for yourselves and there are several ways that you can make that happen. You can email me to book a consultation in the comfort of your own home (I will even bake a few sweet treats) OR you can find me at the Kids in Mind Market this Sunday in beautiful Gisborne. This is a new market (this Sunday is the first in fact) and you will find both new, pre-loved items for children and of course Alipants. And if that is not enough of an incentive the Kids in Mind market is adjacent to the ever popular Gisborne Olde time craft market which has about 220 fabulous stalls including our friends Eco Toys. Gisborne is a 40 minute drive from Melbourne on the Calder freeway and boasts some mighty fine cafes and even has a pub with a large indoor play area for the kids. The weatherman is predicting a lovely sunny spring day this Sunday, so bring the family for a lovely day out.

MiniLaLa's are on their way!!!

2009-09-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

It is excitement central here in the Alipant's house as we have just received official confirmation that the absolutely divine MiniLaLa nappies will be here by the end of the week!!!!! And luckily for us it is just in time for our next market this Sunday, but that is another post. Below is a sneak peak of the patterns that will be available!

These nappies are definitely a must have for your summer nappy stash .. simply add an organic cotton white t-shirt and you have the most adorable eco-friendly outfit ever! I already have several MiniLaLa in my little girls stash and I receive so many comments about how beautiful they are. But rest assured they are not all show and no substance ... these pocket nappies work like a dream thanks to their super absorbent bamboo inserts. And the icing on the cake with MiniLaLa nappies is that they are a one size fits most nappy and will fit from 3.5 kilos until toilet training ... which makes them exceptionally good value. Need I say more???

Ooooo pretty new products

2009-09-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Looky what I just received in my email! Booroi is an Australian company that designs and produces the most wonderful bamboo prefolds and is run by the exceptionally talented Kate and Sam. The exciting news is that they are adding some funky new covers to their already funky range. These are not the official photos, but Kate being the generous soul that she is, did mention that we could use these pics :) . Aren't they just gorgeous? No official word on when they will be released, but I think you can safely assume that it will not be too far away now! Enjoy
I am also hoping to hear some very exciting news from another nappy manufacturer today, I will be straight back here when I do!
Have a great day everyone :]

Hello and welcome

2009-09-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Alipants is a brand new business bringing modern cloth nappies to the Macedon Ranges and outer western suburbs of Melbourne. My website is currently under development and should hopefully be up and running very soon, but in the meantime I will keep you all up to date via this blog.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Ali … well actually it is Alison but only my mother persists in calling me that! My little family consists of my darling husband Ben and our two gorgeous children; Owen, 4 and our latest addition, Tess, who was born on the 26th of June this year! This photo of the fam was taken when Tess was 4 weeks old by the very talented Lucy Best.

I decided to use cloth nappies whilst I was pregnant with Tess. Although I had thought about it when I was having Owen, I never looked into it properly and was talked out of it by my well meaning MIL! This pregnancy the difference was I had the internet at home, so I was able to research the topic and make up my own mind : ) I wanted to use modern cloth nappies for environmental reasons but then I also discovered just how cost effective they are! I was also surprised at how sophisticated, easy and gorgeous modern cloth nappies have become … nothing like the old terry flats my mother used for me!

In the beginning the amount of information on MCN’s was a little overwhelming, but I soon started to understand what all the different terms meant and investigated the different nappies that were frequently recommended. I literally spent hours trawling through various websites seeking out information … there are heaps of great websites out there, I highly recommend Oz cloth nappies as a great starting point (and my own will be chock full of info too). So here I was researching my little heart out, falling under the MCN spell more and more …. I was even sharing the MCN love with other mums-to-be out there. But then I reached the point of my journey where I actually wanted to see the nappies before I purchased. To my surprise there are very few shops that have a good range of MCN’s in Melbourne and they certainly are not convenient for anyone living on the western side on Melbourne to drop into to chat about nappies. So that is why I have established Alipants ……. and what is even better is that I come to you!

Alipants is here to help! Currently Alipants supplies nappies by these fantastic Australian companies – Itti Bitti, Cute Tooshies, Bubblebubs, Minilala and Booroi …. with more to come. Alipants also offers flexible payments options including lay-by. If you are interested in seeing the nappies then simply email me ali@alipants.com.au, and we can organise a time for me to visit. You are more than welcome to try any of my demonstration stock on your bub to check that the nappy is a good fit! I want you to buy modern cloth nappies with confidence because they are truly awesome.

Phew that was quite the introduction : ) …… Stay tunned, there is plenty of exciting things happening at Alipants in the coming weeks.