Feeling Fruity? Cleaning your fruits and veggies.

We try to eat healthy here. We shop at the farmer's market constantly and we always keep our fruit basket full of fresh fruits and our crisper full of veggies. I haven't converted over to organic only but if I could afford the crazy expensive prices of organic food I would definitely buy only organic.

My boys LOVE love LOVE fruit! I have to hide cartons of berries behind the milk in the fridge so little sticky hands don't find them. They also love bananas, oranges, mangoes, pineapples, melons. . . basically every type of fruit they have tried.  And I also crave fruit constantly when I'm pregnant.

But, I'm a mom, and I worry. I know that if I don't buy organic fruits and veggies I am exposing my family to ugly things like pesticides. ahhh!
 How can we eat healthy, fresh foods without worrying so much about the stuff that is on our food?


 Wash it!

I often catch my 2 year old sneaking grapes or strawberries from the fridge when he thinks I'm not looking. (Sorry son, I've got eyes in the back of my head, remember?)
I cringe when I think about what icky pesticides, waxes, chemicals, bacteria,  (not to mention other peoples' fingerprints) that reside on the skin of my freshly purchased produce.

eeeww!

How to wash off the "icky stuff": 
Mamma always said to wash before you eat. She was right!
There are produce cleaners out there, such as Fit, that can help clean off some of the "stuff", but even better than that is something that everyone has in their kitchen: Vinegar!
It's cheap and convenient and works the better than anything else I have found.

You should always wash your fruits and veggies, whether you will be eating the skin or cutting through it, to prevent contamination.   Here's a quick and easy recipe for the perfect fruit and veggie cleaner:

Fruit and Veggie Wash:
3 Cups Water
1 Cup Vinegar

Pour into a spray bottle and spray your fruits and veggies. Let sit for a few minutes and rinse well. The acid in the vinegar is very effective at killing bacteria, removing pesticides, and removing food grade waxes and oils.  Bye Bye fingerprints!

You can also pour the mixture into a bowl and soak your fruits and veggies.  I recommend this for berries, especially strawberries, which contain high amounts of pesticides. This is also great for broccoli.

Apples also contain very high amounts of pesticides, so if you will be eating the skins, wash wash wash!

{ Brightest Crayons } What you wear = who you are

Remember a few years ago when you walked into a store in the mall, like say. . . American Eagle, or Aeropostale, and all of their graphic tees had some type of beer, drug, or strip club reference?
I do.
Yuck!

I am happy to report that many, many of those derogatory tees are being replaced by real art and humor.

I know that these stores I listed are for teenagers/adults but I still don't agree with 14 year old's walking around in Jack Daniels t-shirts or "Bobby Joe's Gentleman's Club" tees. Thank you to all of the graphic designers/screenprinters that decided that these shirts are distasteful!

How can our children feel good about themselves when they are dressed in clothing with rude comments or other all-around bad messages?

What you wear reflects how you feel about yourself. We, as parents, know this.
I strive to stay away from the morally questionable whenever I create any of our t-shirt designs. But I have to say that it is easy when it comes to dressing cute little preschoolers, toddlers and babies! 

One of the designs my boys get the most compliments on is our "Brightest Crayon in the Box" tee.

This is one of the first Cantaloupe Corner designs every made. I loved that the message is uplifting and makes my son feel "bright". I think he is such a smart boy and it was so fun to create a shirt to let him know how I feel about him.

We need to let our kids know that we think they are cute, smart, funny, clever, and so much fun! As their parents, we need to help them develop a love for themselves. That is why I try so hard to keep our t-shirt messages upbeat, fun, and uplifting.

You child can be a Super Hero, a Monkey, a Train Engineer (my son's favorite), or a handsome Little Mister.

I believe that what your child wears reflects how you feel about them. You dressed them, right?  (OK, not always, my youngest insists that he wears the same 3 shirts every day. But I buy/make those shirts for him.)

Keep it fun. Keep it clever. And Always keep it on the "bright" side.

Chocolate Chip TOUGH!

Today feels like a chocolate-licious day. It's Valentines Day, a day of flowers and chocolates and treats of all kinds. I'm very partial to chocolate.
In fact, our house smells like chocolate cookies, mmmm. We are cooking up goodies for our Valentines.

Today just feels like the right day to introduce our rich, chocolate brown t-shirts with a new design!

Chocolate chip cookie anyone?



Tough Cookie



Here is the inspiration for this design:

My fearless 2-year-old. Nothing crumbles this cookie. He is rough and tough! Bumps and bruises don't even phase him. I am sure that most of this comes with being the second child and having to fight big brother for everything.

Whatever the reason, he really is one "Tough Cookie".

The Tough Cookie shirt is now available in our Etsy Shop. And now you can get it on yummy, kid friendly, chocolate brown.

New Colors!

 I am happy to post that we are adding some more color to our line!

Yes sir-ee, we love our boy's tees and we wanted to bring in a new boy color!
I just barely got our new shipment of BROWN toddler t-shirts!!    Excited??   Me too!!!

My 4 year old has made this "I Heart Trains" shirt his new favorite. He wears it every time it is clean.

 And the best part is that it takes a lot to make a brown shirt look dirty, and that means a lot to mother of 2 (almost 3) little boys.  Definitely mother approved.

As of today, all of our boy's tee designs are now available on brown shirts.


And if that isn't enough excitement for today, we have a new onesie color too!

Watch for our new NAVY BLUE onesies, popping up at Cantaloupe Corner.

We're Open!

Our Shop is officially open for business! Check out all of our ink-free Cantaloupe Corner designs at http://www.cantaloupecorner.etsy.com/

Here's a new tee to celebrate!

Bubble Dots - First Birthday Shirt

 Simple, fun, and bubbly!  Perfect for pictures and parties.
Find this new design here.

Personalize your shirt by adding your the birthday kid's name on the back. Add this item to your cart with your shirt.

Happy Grand Re-Opening.

Watch for sales coming today and yet another new design coming next week!

Yipee!