New Boppy Design at Small Sprouts

These are the super cutest boppy's you will find!

This is our Sunday Morning collection boppy

Boppy Mazipan with ruffles

Split fabric of Oxygen polka dot and cheetah

Split fabric of polka dot and damask with ruffles

Fix It Or Trash It?~Frugal Mompreneur Tips

When things around the house break down, or are being held together with duct tape and chewing gum, a decision has to be made whether to incur the costs of fixing them or whether it is better to simply replace them. There are several criteria that must be considered when making the decision, including the age of the item, the cost of the repair, the likelihood that it will need to be repaired again in the near future, and the cost of a new one. In many cases, it makes financial sense to repair old items rather than spend money on new ones.

Sometimes though, pouring money into outdated, energy-inefficient assets is simply sending good money in after bad. Here are four common groups of personal and household items that will likely break down on you at some point in your life.


1. Vehicles
Whether to sell or junk your used car is one of the most difficult decisions you can make. New cars are expensive, but so are major repairs on old ones. There are times when the decision is easy, such as when it will cost $5,000 to put a new engine into a car that will only be worth $3,000 after the repair. Gas mileage is also an important consideration. If you are patching up an old that gets 15 miles to the gallon, it may make more financial sense to buy a new or slightly used car that gets 30 miles to the gallon. As long as your old car is reasonably fuel-efficient and the repairs are less than 25% of the value of the car, and as long as the mechanic feels it is otherwise sound, it is worth repairing rather than buying a new car.

2. Household Appliances
Appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, and dishwashers always seem to break down right after the warranty ends. Warranty periods are shrinking and the increasing complexity of the construction of these appliances boosts the odds that you will have to make the repair/replace decision more often. One of the main determinants is the age of the appliance.
Older appliances suck much more energy than newer ones on average. This is especially true of old refrigerators and freezers. If they are more than 10 years old, it is almost always better to buy new than to try to fix old compressors. With dishwashers and washing machines, it's both energy-efficiency and water usage that will help you make the right choice. New washers can use less than one-quarter of the hot water as old ones, which saves on both the water bill and the energy bill. It may also be difficult to obtain parts for older machines, raising the cost of the repair. In general, if a household appliance is more than five years old, give serious consideration to replacing it.

3. Clothes
There was a time when clothes lasted a lot longer than they do now. Part of it was the fact that they were made to last, not made to be sold for a few dollars. Part of it was also that people mended, patched, and altered clothes until they were worn out. Today, people are more likely to throw out old clothes or send them off to charity. There is a financial benefit to buying high-quality clothes and fixing them when hems get dropped or tears appear. Low-end clothing is mass-produced and meant to be expendable at the end of the first season of wear. Good quality clothing can last years and are worth mending. Buy clothes that are simple and classic and can pair with many other pieces. This way, they won't go out of style long before they wear out. Clothing repairs and alterations at local seamstresses are often inexpensive ways to get another few years out of well-made piece of clothing.

4. Computers and Electronics
Computers break - frequently. So do the myriad of electronic devices we have around our homes, such as CD players, GPS units, televisions and alarm clocks. Electronic devices can be expensive to fix, and often, impossible to fix. As the price of most electronics continues to decrease while the features and capabilities increase, it is often not worth the cost to repair them. This applies doubly to computers.

As new programs and online applications grow in size and complexity, they take up more memory. Older computers often cannot keep up after three or four years. While new memory can be added and minor repairs and disc cleanups can be made, using a clunky four-year-old computer often takes more time than it is worth. If time equals money for you, buying a new computer is often the best choice if the existing one is more than a few years old.

The Bottom Line
Making the right decision about repairing or replacing your household goods can save you thousands of dollars over the years. Consider all of factors rather than just the cost of the repair before deciding if something is worth hanging on to.

Resources: Finance.Yahoo.com

Small Sprouts New Owl Pattern

This new owl pattern is adorable in shades of pink, teal & chocolate

Look at this super cute expedition stroller cover that is ready to ship!

Come see all our items at Small Sprouts

Love, Family and Labor Law

Jerry Draper has a very small farm, one perfect organic acre snuggled between oak-covered hills and the edge of a sleepy suburb in northern California. As with most tiny businesses, work and family life blended together seamlessly. Jerry paid his parents $1 a year – which they split – for helping around the farm. His sister sometimes dropped by with a loving hand, too, taking home some vegetables in exchange for her effort.


That all changed last summer, when the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement cited Jerry for labor violations, a charge that carries a hefty fine. Jerry learned that although it is legal for “immediate family” members to help out in his business, siblings are not included in the law’s definition of family, which is limited to spouses, parents, and children. Jerry’s sister’s presence on the farm resulted in a citation, even if she was only lending a hand during a family visit.

Ultimately, the charge was dismissed on a technicality. But the statutes under which Jerry was charged – part of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act – apply to virtually all forms of employment in the United States, not just farms, and not just in California. “Every owner of a small business should know that having relatives or friends work with you could be a problem,” said Jerry.

Prosecuting a one-acre farmer on a family-related technicality might seem a bit over-reaching, to say the least. But the Fair Labor Standards Act is hardly bad law. To the contrary, when it was instituted in 1938 under the Roosevelt administration, it granted historic protections to employees that have since benefited millions of working Americans. Among its many provisions, the Act established a minimum wage, set rules for overtime pay, and defined and abolished child labor.

But it also restricts a business’ ability to accept volunteer labor of most kinds. There are no exemptions for cases in which someone might want to volunteer to help a friend’s business or learn a skill. That’s what County Line Harvest, a small farm in Petaluma, California, learned when it was fined $18,000 because it allowed volunteers on the farm. For decades, small sustainable farms (as well as many disciplines in the arts and crafts) have maintained a tradition of internships and apprenticeship programs. Volunteers — often students — work for short periods of time under a variety of arrangements to acquire skills that are only available through hands-on experience. Under the law, this kind of “volunteering” is considered to be work without pay and is not permitted.

If you run a small home-based business, have “volunteers” ever been part of your workforce? As an example, I heard the story of a home-based artisan who received unexpected national television coverage right before the holidays. As her email pinged with order after order, her joy turned to panic. How would these orders get filled? She did what a lot of us would do in this situation — she put on some music, made a pot of soup, and invited over a group of friends, who laughed and talked, packed boxes, and made sure everything got to UPS. Nobody got paid. Was this a labor violation? Or was this an example of neighbor helping neighbor, an act as traditional as barn raising, fence mending, or a quilting bee?

Are current labor laws responsive to the realities of modern micro-businesses in a changing economy? Or are the laws that protect workers from exploitation so historic, so essential, and so hard-won that we should uphold them even if it sometimes feels counterintuitive or inconvenient? What ultimately protects us the most and guarantees us the greatest freedom?

Karen Brown is an award-winning designer and creative director of the Center for Ecoliteracy. Her work has been included in the Smithsonian Institution and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and featured in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, and on Today on NBC. She believes that the handmade movement is a fundamental force for transforming society and the economy.

Shine On, Harvest Moon!

This Friday, Sept. 23, is the first day of autumn. Early in the morning (about 5 a.m. EDT), from our perspective in the northern hemisphere, the sun will pass the autumnal equinox. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I don't think there is any more beautiful time; as the heat of summer fades in memory, I look forward to the time when the frost will again be on the pumpkin.


Another September phenomena I am drawn to, the harvest moon, occurred on Sept. 12 this year. Technically, the harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, so it can sometimes fall in early October. Still, most harvest moons occur in September.

Many people, today, associate the harvest moon with romance, but old-time farmers probably wouldn't have had such a romantic association. The harvest moon was how they lengthened their harvest days back before tractors had headlights.

Since the harvest moon is preceded and followed by moonrises only about 30 minutes earlier and later, it gives the rough equivalent of three full moons in a row. Normally, the moon comes up almost an hour later each evening, and three full-moon nights in a row allow farmers to bring in the sheaves until they are almost too exhausted to go on.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My days of bringing in the sheaves -- or any other harvest for that matter -- are more a memory than anything else. My preference, today, is to focus on the romance of the harvest moon rather than the extra hours of toil.

On full-moon nights when the weather is decent, my dear wife Janice and I like to sit in the porch swing and enjoy the evening breeze. Moonlight has a way of softening the lines and wrinkles in my craggy face much like time has a way of taking the edge off of life's rough years. I am left with smoother memories too -- sometimes melancholy but maybe a little less painful.

Holding Janice close in the moonlight, I like to sing the old song Shine On, Harvest Moon:

The night was mighty dark so you could hardly see,
For the moon refused to shine.
Couple sitting underneath a willow tree,
For love they did pine.
Little maid was kinda 'fraid of darkness, so
She said, "I guess I'll go."
Boy began to sigh, looked up at the sky,
And told the moon his little tale of woe.
Oh, shine on, shine on harvest moon, up in the sky;
I ain't had no lovin' since April, January, June or July.
Snow time ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon;
So shine on, shine on harvest moon, for me and my gal.

Resources: goodolddaysmagazine.com

Small Sprouts Items~Deal Of The Week

This is an awesome deal we have never done before! I have alimited amount of spots for Custom car seat covers and stroller covers at a $10.00 discount this week only on most of our fabrics. Not available for rush orders, we run 3-4 weeks on custom orders.

Like this adorable Danielle cover from our crib bedding selections

Discount available only for Graco Snugride, Snugride 32, Snugride 35, Safeseat, Chicco key fit & Key fit 30, Bertini, Baby trend flex loc, Britax Companion, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo & Safety 1st (not air onboard)

Stoller cover discount is available for the Graco passage, Graco Alano, Graco Spree, Graco Quattro and Graco metrolite only

To save your spot or for any questions, please email me at admin@smallsprouts.com

5 habits holding you back -- and how to change them

I was meeting my friend Linda at our favorite Brooklyn cafe to discuss a project. "Six, sharp. I'll see you then," I promised. And by 6:15 p.m., there sat Linda, with a cool margarita in front of her and steam coming out of her ears. I breezed in at 6:30, full of apologies and excuses. But it was no use: I was late -- again -- and she was furious. She tartly informed me that if I kept her waiting once more, I'd be kicked off the project.


Everyone's got bad habits such as lateness or procrastination. But if you consistently act in ways that cause you to lose face, lose friends, or fail when a goal is within reach, your harmless personality quirks may have morphed into serious self-sabotage. "A bad habit becomes destructive when your behavior causes more than momentary regret and leaves you feeling disappointed in yourself," says Pauline Wallin, PhD, author of Taming Your Inner Brat.

Why do we derail our own happiness? Experts attribute it to a variety of unconscious beliefs: nagging doubt about whether we really deserve what we're striving for; apprehension that we won't be able to handle increased expectations and responsibilities; even fear that our achievement may isolate us from our peers or family members.

To overcome self-sabotage, you must first identify its origin and then take steps to interrupt the cycle. Here are five ways you might be tripping yourself up, and suggestions for how to (finally) get out of your own way.

Fatal Flaw #1: You procrastinate.


Tomorrow is soon enough. Besides, you excel under pressure.

The ugly truth: You're secretly afraid your work won't be perfect and you'll be outed as a fraud. "Procrastinators tend to be very concerned about what other people think of them," says Joseph Ferrari, PhD, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago. "If you worry that you will never perform as well as you have in the past, fear of failure may be halting your progress." Putting off work provides a ready-made excuse: Instead of admitting failure, you can always blame your busy schedule and overbooked calendar. "That way, you can tell yourself the project would have been successful if only you'd had more time," Ferrari explains.

The fix: Play the worst-case-scenario game. The next time your grasp on deadlines starts to slip -- something even the worst procrastinator can recognize -- take a moment to look inward for the source of your foot dragging. Ask yourself what's the absolute worst that could happen. Then spin the consequences out to their most ludicrous degree: Would your family and friends disown you? Would you end up starving and homeless? Would the cat die? Once you've realized things aren't so awful, you can get past the anxiety and focus on the work, says Ferrari.

Fatal Flaw #2: You shop yourself into bankruptcy.


You deserve to have nice things -- but unfortunately treating yourself can lead to lively early-morning chats with bill collectors and a colorful credit report.

The ugly truth: "Impulse shopping is another way to mask negative feelings," explains Dana Lightman, PhD, a behavioral psychologist in Philadelphia. So, like emotional eaters who gorge on ice cream when they're down, chronic spenders try to numb feelings of boredom, depression, or inadequacy by filling up on stuff. With every shiny new purchase, splurge-aholics tell themselves: Well, okay, so I didn't solve that nagging problem today, but at least I cleaned out the shoe department at Nordstrom. Some people find it easier to decorate their lives in an effort to create the appearance, rather than the substance, of success. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with a little retail therapy, but if you're sinking into debt, regularly paying your bills late, and not achieving your financial goals, then it's a problem you literally can't afford.

The fix: Know yourself as well as you know what you own. Carol Leslie, an executive coach in Cleveland, suggests you use a trusty dieters' trick to keep track of the things you normally do without thinking -- like polish off a quart of ice cream. Or, in this case, shop. Attach a small, thin notebook around your wallet with a rubber band so that it can serve as a reminder to write down your feelings whenever you're tempted to mindlessly reach for plastic. Pretty soon you'll begin to recognize what sets you off before you click "Buy Now!" -- and learn to find healthy distractions instead. "Go for a run, talk to a friend, see a movie, do anything that will get you out of a shopping mode," says Leslie.

Fatal Flaw #3: You binge when your goal weight is within sight.


You've earned some quality just-us girls time with your old pals Little Debbie, Mrs. Fields, and Sara Lee.

The ugly truth: You may not have been prepared for the male attention your new body brings, which can make you feel vulnerable. Or maybe your friends seem jealous of your success, and you're uncomfortable with their scrutiny. Getting down to a healthy weight also means maintaining it, which is a tough task unto itself. Plus, when things don't go your way -- you get dumped or you don't get the job you went after -- you can't use your "It's because I'm fat" excuse. "Life often feels simpler without these issues, and it's easier to eat a whole bag of potato chips and retreat to your fatter, safer world," explains Connie Tyne, executive director of the Cooper Wellness Program in Dallas.

The fix: See yourself the way others do. It's hard to stop thinking of yourself as overweight even after the pounds are gone. But improving your self-image can help ease the emotional transition into smaller sizes, says Linda Spangle, RN, author of 100 Days of Weight Loss. "Enroll in a public-speaking class to build self-esteem and increase your comfort level around people." You can also get a boost by making a list of your greatest attributes, which is what most people notice anyway. "Describe what you're like at your best," Spangle suggests. "Maybe you're energetic or you smile a lot or regale your friends with funny stories. Thinking in terms of confidence and strength makes you act in terms of confidence and strength."

Fatal Flaw #4: You're habitually late.


It's never your fault -- your mom called, the dog got sick, traffic was brutal...

The ugly truth: Being late could be your passive-aggressive way of getting back at those who force you to adhere to their timetable. "Blaming your tardiness on a hectic schedule is easier than admitting you're resentful about constraints being placed on your time," says Spangle. Your chronic lateness may also be a sign that you're subconsciously trying to undermine the situation, lash out at a friend or, in the case of work, get fired. If you're late for something that is a big taboo, like a job interview, it may show your ambivalence about whether you really want the gig. "Rather than risk a poor showing in the new position, you ensure that the opportunity never arises," says Rebecca Curtis, PhD, professor of psychology at Adelphi University.

The fix: Make up your mind. Be clear about what you want. "If it's a career issue, ask yourself if your interest in your job is waning," says Kathryn Cramer, PhD, author of Change the Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking. "Being late is a way of disconnecting. This can be a warning that it's time to take stock and either recommit yourself or make a change." Bonus hint: Be proactive and adjust your actions or attitude rather than wait to get canned. You're always better off controlling events instead of waiting for them to control you.

Fatal Flaw #5: You pick fights with your partner.


"I can't help it. He used to be great but now he's just driving me crazy."

The ugly truth: Creating unnecessary drama in your relationship is typically a holdover from childhood, explains James Tobin, PhD, clinical instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. While you were growing up, a parent unknowingly may have established conditions for love, and you've unconsciously learned that you have to look a certain way, act in a particular manner, or achieve certain goals before you're deemed worthy. The result: "You end up fearing that just as you're ready to make a commitment, your partner will see your true self and find a reason to not love you," says Tobin.

The fix: Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe your analysis of his behavior is just wrong. For instance, if your boyfriend had to cancel your big night out on the town, that doesn't necessarily mean he wants out of the relationship. Maybe he really did have to work late. Remember, even people who love you get caught up in their own lives. The realization that many things have little or nothing to do with you can mitigate the drama, says Tobin. "It's like changing the rearview mirror in your car. If you rotate it just a little bit, you get a whole new perspective."

Resources: Yahooshine

Small Sprouts Carousel Custom Items~Deal Of The Week

This week only 9/12-9/18 we are offering a cool discount on our Carousel Custom items

This adorable purple and sage green fabric can be used to make any item on our site

This week only, you can have $10.00 off any infant car seat, toddler or high back booster seat cover or stroller cover. $5.00 off a shopping cart cover, high chair cover, backless booster or a fancy blanket.

Contact me at admin@smallsprouts.com to order

Changes Are Coming Along With A New Contest

This weekend, we will be launching a new updated website! More items, easier to use. I have spent the last 3 weeks building the site and have listened to all of your suggestions on how to make our site better!

With that, will come a new Small Sprouts Giveaway. hint: It will be really important to scan over our current website as some of the contest questions will have to do with the change over, what is new and what is missing.

Small Sprouts current customers will also benefit from this one, so stay tuned!!

First Person: Our 7 Favorite Dollar Store Deals

I saw this article in Yahoo Shine and thought it to be a great one for a Frugal Mompreneur post.

Since our family lost a paycheck last year, making smart decisions with our shopping dollars has become a necessary part of life. As painful as the transition has been, we've learned some difficult lessons and made some smart discoveries.


One of our biggest surprises has been the great values we discovered at our local dollar store. Every month we make a stock up run for a wide variety of products whose performance and prices have delivered the best bang for our buck when compared to store brand items.

These seven household items listed below have become dollar store staples of our day-to-day lives.

Bleach - This necessary laundry staple usually runs about two dollars at the local grocery store. So how does saving fifty percent by buying at the dollar store sound? It sounded pretty good to us, and we've noticed absolutely no difference in cleaning or whitening abilities. As an added bonus, our dollar store sometimes stocks a far larger bottle than the regular size that delivers even more value. Estimated savings - $1.00.

Fabric softener sheets - Dryer sheets perform two functions: they eliminate static and make your clothes smell nice. The dollar store sheets do both of these tasks adequately. One big difference we found was that brand name dryer sheets can quite often be used more than once, which is not the case with the dollar store brand. However, as most brand name dryer sheets go for three to six dollars more, the best value award goes to the dollar store brand. Estimated savings - $3.00.

Dishwasher detergent - The small box of dishwasher detergent delivers great cleaning ability and a nice, slight citrus scent. The dishes regularly come out of the dishwasher clean with no food residue on them. Since store brands can run three to six times as much, the question becomes how much money do you want to save? My only complaint is that the box is rather small, which means we usually buy two at a time, but the savings are still there even when buying multiples. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Toilet cleaning bleach tablets - Who doesn't love these? Open them up. Drop them in. Keep your toilet bowl clean and fresh. While the dollar store tablets tend to be smaller and not as long-lasting, the two tablets per box make these a great money saver compared to brand names that sell one tablet for five times the price. Estimated savings - $4.00.

Zipper sandwich bags - I like these. After all, when you're wrapping up your kid's peanut butter and jelly, he or she isn't going to know whether it's in a brand name plastic bag or not. And since the bag is ultimately going to be thrown out after one use, there's not much reason to pay the extra two dollars that brand name is going to cost. Now my family does prefer the brand name freezer bags for our meats and leftovers that we like to freeze, but for sandwich bags, we'll happily pocket the extra cash. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Dish soap - The dollar store in our area carries a wide selection of smaller bottles of brand name liquid dish soaps like Palmolive and Ajax. We prefer their smaller bottles since they are less obtrusive on the counter and easier to handle when diving into a big pile of dirty dishes. The savings here aren't much, but every little bit helps. Estimated savings - $1.00.

Bleach spray cleaner - These counter cleaners are kitchen and bathroom must-haves for their anti-bacterial and tough cleaning abilities. At a dollar a bottle, it makes daily cleaning both healthy and a good value. With store brands retailing for three to five dollars, you'll also notice a much fatter wallet, too. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Long story short, when it comes to these common household items, we can spend seven bucks at the dollar store or three times that amount at the grocery store or Wal-mart. Believe me, your family won't notice any difference, except maybe that extra cash in your account at the end of the month.

What do you buy at your Dollar Stores? Would love to hear from you.

Owls, Owls & more Owls

Everyone is hooten over Owls these days and we have plenty of them!

Adorable chocolate and blue Hooty Owl bedding set!

Add a matching car seat cover

For your little princess, we have this sweet lilac version

 

Super soft lilac minky inside

Add a matching diaper bag!!

 

The best out-of-office email ever written

Have you set your "Out of office reply" for the Labor day holiday?

I enjoyed reading this one! so I thought I would pass it along

You know the worst thing about going on vacation? Writing your out-of-office email message. It's always one of the last things on the to-do list along with buying mini-toothpaste, and it's definitely the least fun.

Do you leave contact information? Do you overstate or undersell said contact information's emergency purposes? Do you point people to a poor, helpless co-worker in your absence who will probably resent you the entire time you're gone? These and many other questions (like, is saying where you're going TMI?) plague me the night before I'm headed out of town.

Thankfully, Gizmodo has provided us neurotics with the perfect specimen of an out-of-office email message. They found a vacation auto-reply of a guy named Josh Kopelman, that will now serve as my model for all future away messages—give or take a few key details. Josh's stroke of genius in full:

I am currently out of the office on vacation.


I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return — but that’s not true. My blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.


That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands:


•If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@[redacted].com and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.


•If you think someone else at [the company] might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.


· Otherwise, I’ll respond when I return…


Warm regards,


Josh

Let's examine what Josh has done. First he's humanized the auto-reply robot message. Second he's implied that not only would you be interrupting his vacation if you reach out to him, but you'd also be upsetting his wife, which somehow feels much worse. Thirdly, he's created an email account that forces users to write the words "interrupt your vacation" in order to follow through with the disturbance, just in case someone has forgotten what they're about to do. Josh, you are a psychological mastermind. Hat's off.

Avocado~Frugal Mompreneur Tips

Here in the Yucatan of Mexico we have very large fruits and vegetables due to the tropical climate. The first time I saw a Yucatan avocado tree was with my Mom when she was visiting, although we did not know it was an avocado tree as the fruit was so large.

The fruit of horticultural cultivars range from more or less round to egg or pear-shaped, typically the size of a temperate-zone pear or larger, on the outside bright green to green-brown (or almost black) in color, and high in fat. Though the fruit does have a markedly higher fat content than most other fruits, most of the fat in avocados is monounsaturated fat, which is considered healthy in the human diet. A whole medium avocado contains approximately 25% of the recommended daily amount of saturated fat. Avocados also have 60% more potassium than bananas. They are also rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and K.

We buy our avocado in packs of 5 or 6 and they ripen so quickly, guacamole cannot be the only use or we end up throwing the too ripe fruit out, so below are some great tips for avocado uses.
Some extraordinary avocado uses


* House plants. Stick toothpicks in the sides of avocado pits and set them on the top of a water-filled glass. A plant will sprout forth which can be transplanted into a pot after a few weeks. On the Avocado Information Web Site, University of California, Cooperative Extension, Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia and Dr. Ben Faber report:

“It is possible to grow an avocado from seed, just don't let it dry out. Be aware that the seed is the result of cross-pollination so the resulting tree will be different from the tree the fruit came from. For example, if you plant the seed from a Hass avocado, the resulting tree will be a cross between a Hass and something else... it will NOT be a Hass! Also, keep in mind that avocados planted from seed take anywhere from 5 to 13 years+ before they flower and produce fruit. When I start an avocado from seed I usually take it right from the fruit, I cut about 1/4" off the tip of the seed with a sharp knife, and place the seed in a pot with potting soil with just the flat/cut top of the seed showing above the soil. Keep it moist and wait...(time to germinate varies).”

* Hand cream. If you have chapped hands or want to prevent chapping in the winter, rub in some avocado.

* Shaving cream. Smear it on!

* Sunburn relief. It may not block any of the sun but it will help keep your skin moist.

* Foot and hand massage. With your partner, share the luxury of a relaxing massage.

* Great for facials!



Resources: living-foods.com

Sock Monkey History

What is it that makes the Red Heel® Sock Monkey such a beloved part of our lives? Is it their Nostalgic appeal or their charming personality.  All we know here at Small Sprouts that we can't get enough of these little guys.


Children and adults have enjoyed Sock Monkeys for over a 100 years. The original crafter who created this lasting icon is unknown, But the creativity behind this wonderful doll has brought joy to millions.

The Red Heel® socks were first manufactured in 1890 by The Nelson Knitting Mills in Rockford Illinois. John Nelson came to this country from Sweden in 1852 with the Swedish immigrants stepping off the train in Rockford. The first sock knitting machines were patented by him in 1869. Incorporated in 1880, The Nelson Knitting Co. was the first company world wide to manufacture socks. These sturdy and comfortable work-socks were worn mainly by farmers and factory workers. In 1932, Nelson Knitting Mills first introduced the red heel on the Rockford sock, to distinguish their product from the many imitators.

The making of sock monkeys came about on its own by clever crafters using a humble sock to make a beloved toy. These quality sock were intended and used as work socks, but they became so much more when the Sock Monkey was born. In 1951 Nelson Knitting Mills started to include the directions for the Sock Monkeys with every pair of red Heel® Socks.

Small Sprouts is introducing our new line of Sock Monkey products.

Super cute boy selection of red and chocolate!

We can make your diaper bag, crib bedding set, shopping cart cover, and more from the sock monkey fabric

Super cute Girl cover!

Have questions, just contact us at orders@smallsprouts.com