The second annual Great Cloth Diaper Change℠ happens in just 9 short days and I want you to be there!  With over 305 locations registered spanning across 16 countries there are many opportunities to participate in a Guiness World Record™ breaking event for most cloth diapers changed simultaneously.

The Great Cloth Diaper Change℠ takes place at 12 PM EST on April 21, 2012.  Participants will be expected to bring a baby to the event (in a cloth or disposable diaper) to change into a cloth diaper.  Babies must be under 39″ in height to be counted.  As a tip from last year anyone hoping to attend should also bring a blanket or changing mat and a cloth wipe (to cover the private area of your baby between diapers).  This event is not just a diaper change!  All locations will be working hard to make it a family friendly event.  Many will have entertainment, goodie bags, vendors, and opportunities to win cloth diapers and other great gear.

The week leading up to the BIG DAY is Real Diaper Week April 16-21, 2012.  The schedule is as follows:

Day 1 (April 16th): Real Simple Real Diapers Outreach – Cloth Diapering 101

Day 2 (April 17th): Real Simple Real Diapers Waste Reduction –  Waste Reduction, Environmental benefits, Elimination Communication (diaper-free baby)

Day 3 (April 18th): Real Simple Real Diapers Savings – Cost savings, diapering on a budget, cloth diaper banks or support organizations

Day 4 (April 19th):  Real Simple Real Diapers for Babies – Health benefits, cloth diapers in hospitals, or cloth diapers in day cares

Day 5 (April 20th):  Real Simple Real Diapers Reuse –  Reuse, traveling with cloth, cloth diapering at night

Day 6 (April 21st):  Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012 – Attend and invite a friend to a local GCDC event!

There will also be a BlogHop that week where many of us will be blogging about topics related to that day’s theme.  Look posts from Dirty Diaper Laundry and friends.  A list of participating bloggers is at The Eco Chic’s blog.

I am excited about attending again this year.  I’ll be at the Charlotte, NC event hosted by Jack Be Natural.  I’ll also be selling my “Cloth Rocks” Cloth Diaper Advocacy T-Shirts.

The biggest cloth diaper giveaway of the year will end tonight at midnight.  The Giving Diapers, Giving Hope 2012 Fundraiser has already been more successful than I could have imagined but we are less than $300 dollars away from hitting a HUGE milestone of $3,000!  

If you need a reminder of the amazing prizes being offered by the sponsors of this even you can visit the prize list.  {View Prizes}

There are over $1,700 dollars worth of prizes being given away!  The giveaway is hosted on my Facebook Fanpage and to enter you will need to “like” the pages of our sponsors in the Rafflecopter form.  There are no mandatory entries.

For an extra 25 entries you can donate ANY amount!  ANYTHING!  We know that money is tight for a lot of families but every little bit counts.  Even a few dollars spared will combine with the other donations to get us that much closer to $3,000.

The money raised from this fundraiser is going to the filing fee associated with becoming a non-profit.  Any leftovers will them help pay for the operating costs of the organization.

Giving Diapers, Giving Hope has already helped over 70 families start cloth diapering and they are poised to help many more in 2012 with your help!

As always, they appreciate any used (or new) cloth diaper donations as well.  Even if the diapers are in need of minor repair work they can be put to good use.  You can learn more about how to donate on their website:  GivingDiapersGivingHope.org

Lastly, I want to extend an enormous thank you to those companies and partners who made this entire thing possible.  The generosity of the sponsors has really humbled me and makes me realize what an incredible community I am lucky to be a part of.

What are you waiting for?  Get the word out!  Only 1 more day to enter this spectacular giveaway for a great cause!  

Enter Now!

Sleeping in the Simple Linen Sling

My favortie ring sling maker, Sakura Bloom, is having a sample sale RIGHT NOW!  I bought my silk French Vanilla sling there the last time they had a sample sale and paid far less than new.  I know these slings are pricey but now is a perfect time to snag one.  Some linen slings are as low as 60.00!  I have their Simple Linen Sling and it is my favorite every day around the house sling.

You can support my blog by shopping through my affiliate link as well!  They sold really quickly but there are still some great and beautiful slings available!

Shop Now!

The HUGE Blog reveal happens today, across 100 blogs, to announce the highly anticipated new product from Softbums!  I bet you want to know what it is, don’t you?  And you want a chance to win one, or a supply of them, or an iPad?!?!

In that case, you are going to want to check the Softbums Blog at 1 PM EST to see what it is and enter the giveaway!  For more chances to win, come to my blog next.  I have my own video of the new product (because I am a lucky girl and got my mitts on it a few days ago!) and a little review.  In addition, you can enter the giveaway on my blog for extra chances to win.  Then, you can hop over to the next blog participating, and the next.  This is a really fun way to find other blogs to read, while increasing your chances to win!

So, don’t forget.  Hit the Softbums Blog, then remember me, ok?

FYI, this giveaway will only be open to US Residents.

This next carnival is all about Cloth Diaper Awareness. I want everyone to post a blog entry about how they think we can promote or educate others about cloth diapers. No idea is too crazy! Remember, I am the one trying to get cloth on The Ellen Show!

TV, local outreach, classes, etc. You can write about things you have done or grand ideas that seem crazy but just might work! If some ideas are good enough or feasible maybe we can make it happen somehow!

Everyone will post their entry on or before September 7!

I will also post my entry along with a McLinky so everyone can add their posts.  The McLinky will be open for 2 days.  I will include the codes.  Everyone who participates needs to add the code to their website so that readers can go from one blog to the next.  If you have technical troubles you can link to my post with instructions for readers to visit the other entries.

Your post should have this at the very beginning:

This post is part of Cloth Diapering Bloggers’ and Dirty Diaper Laundry’s Cloth Diaper Carnival VIII: Cloth Diaper Awareness.  Please visit the other bloggers participating by following the links at the end of this post.

I look forward to hearing your creative ideas or experiences!

As promised, this month will feature reviews and giveaways geared toward the new mom and baby!

Don’t expect the whole month to be reviews and giveaways, there will still be regular posts from me, and also cloth diaper video reviews!

So stay tuned for posts from Kristen, DDL contributor, very soon!