Cake Pop Funeral

Stunning and yummy - in theory. But have you ever tried to make them? I have!

For three evenings, I labored with my kids.

Here's approximately how it went:

Evening 1: Bake white cake. Make some fresh frosting. Crumble and mix the two together. 4 pairs of super-sticky hands. Cover. Refrigerate. Clean up. Sleep.

Evening 2: Get our cookie scoops. Form 20 gorgeous, symmetrical and equally sized cookie balls. Line them up on parchment paper. Wash bowls. Sleep.

Evening 3: Melt chocolate. Put little dabs of chocolate on cake balls. Stick in lollypop sticks. Melt more chocolate in a double boiler. Get excited. Dip first cake pop into chocolate. Loose cake pop in chocholate. Repeat mistake. 20 times! Kids sticky AND devastated. Refuse to sleep.

Uplifting (if not entirely satisfactory) postscript:
We threw out the chocolate mess and gathered around the kitchen garbage. I intoned, "dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the sad demise of our cake pops. we will miss our dreams of eating you up, our thoughts of rolling you in sprinkles and edible glitter. you will now lie here forever, with the leftover cereal from this morning, last week's coleslaw and some moldy lemons we found in the bottom of the refrigerator." Lips started turning up and tears turned to smiles.

Does baking with your kids truly need to be a life lesson in coping with small failures?

Love,

Tovit (a dapple mom)

KinderGARDENing

Are you feeling the summer weather yet? We definitely are, and we're sure your kids are too. Here’s a great idea to spend some quality outdoor family time and fill a long summer day – Garden with your kids! It is the perfect time of year to teach yourself and your little one about growing herbs, vegetables, and flowers.

Maintaining an organic garden is a great way to get healthy food for your kids and makes them more aware of where their food comes from. These tips should start you on the right track:

1. Don't worry if you have limited space. Small gardens are easier for young kids to maintain; even a very small yard or apartment terrace will suffice. Container gardening is also an easy option for those families living in a city.
2. Use tools that kids can handle, and be extra-safe if you're working with young ones.
3. Kids love to dig! Soil needs to be broken up before planting, so allow them to go crazy and prepare the plots or pots before starting your garden.
4. Herbs like mint for lemonade and vegetables like radishes, leaf lettuce and pea pods, have short growing seasons. This means your kids won't have to wait all summer to see results of their hard work.
5. Use dapple! Make sure their tools, toys, or anything else they brought out into the garden is cleaned with natural dapple Toy & Surface Cleaner.

Gardening with your kids allows you to do something together. It teaches them patience, organization, hard work, and how to be "green" early on!! And who doesn't love eating food fresh from a garden?

Bethenny Frankel Is a Dapple Mom!

Super-mom Bethenny Frankel uses Dapple to wash her baby bottles. A big Dapple fan sent us the above photo (Thanks Yael!) that she got from one of Bethenny's tweets and told us to look closely. Behind the sink is a bottle of Dapple Baby Bottle & Dish Liquid! That's right, just beyond those delicous looking vegan banana chocolate chip cookies. Now if she only posted a picture of her playroom we can tell you what she uses to clean her toys.......

Tips for a Weed-Free Lawn, a Salad Recipe, and Little Greens!

One of our Little Greens viewers, Erika Kerl, wanted to know “Now that spring has sprung...I am wondering what is safe to use on your grass to keep it dandelion and weed free but is also safe for my 10 month old to crawl around on?”

Great question, Erika! Here’s what we were able to dig up:

1. Vinegar: a 5% concentration of vinegar diluted in water is a natural and effective weed killer. Just remember that vinegar is “non-selective” meaning you need to spray the top of the weed directly or it will kill your grass as well. Spray only on the plants you wish to kill.

2. Corn Gluten Meal: A very safe and environmentally friendly way to combat dandelions and other lawn weeds is with corn gluten meal. This natural product will not kill established plants but it will stop germination of new ones. To control dandelions, it is best applied to the lawn about 4 to 6 weeks before weeds germinate. If you think your weeds have already germinated, don’t fret! Weeds sprout at all different times, so you can apply corn gluten meal a few times during the growing season. Corn Gluten Meal also benefits your grass by adding nitrogen to the soil.

Where to buy it? Your local garden center or nursery.

3. Pulling Weeds: This may not be the most fun or quickest option, but it is effective if you pull out the entire tap root. If you don’t get the entire root the dandelion will grow again in the same spot. You can find a small hand tool at your garden center that will help get to the bottom of the tap root. Make a dandelion salad! Dandelion greens are more nutritious than spinach. They are high in Vitamins A and C, and contain high levels of iron, calcium, and potassium. So eat up, and enjoy your dandelion free lawn.

View our latest Little Greens episode and remember to submit your questions! If your question is answered on the show you will receive a $25 gift card to one of our retail partners, Babies R Us, Diapers.com, or Abesmarket.com.

Vote Cribsies!

Here is the super cute commercial that we had mentioned in our previous post.

Dapple has been named a Cribsie Awards finalist in two categories! We are up for awards in the "Safest Cleaning Products That Actually Work" section under the "Nursery" category, and under "Gentlest Detergent for Baby Togs" in the "Fashion" Category. If you vote for us and let us know at emmett@dapplebaby.com we'll send you a personalized special something. The video below explains all.

We are going to upload Dapple videos to our Youtube page regularly with Barry as the lead. Barry, our West Coast team-leader happens to also be an actor. Combine that with a passion for everything green with a whole lot of cute children and you have the formula for the ultimate Dapple video.

Dapple on Youtube!

Dapple is now on Youtube. You can find our channel here . Barry, our Dapple West-Coast team leader, will be hosting videos answering your green parenting questions. We will be posting a new Dapple commercial in a couple of days. Not that we are biased.... but it is the cutest video ever! That's until the next Dapple video comes out. Enjoy the baby starring intro video below.

Watch and Win: Free Clean-Up Kit 11/22 9PM ET

The Baby Guy NYC, Jamie Grayson, called the "Best Baby Gear Guru" by New York Magazine, is hosting a Twitter Party tonight, 11/22 from 9-10 PM ET (6-9 PT). Jamie will be presenting a "fun-filled romp through baby gear" on his Ustream Channel, shown above, and will move to Twitter to discuss the show and to answer any questions parents might have. Just be sure to follow the instructions below.

Why participate? FREE DAPPLE CLEAN-UP KITS to 7 randomly selected participants and great gear advice from the only male baby planner in the world.

Here is what you have to do to be eligible.

1. Follow Jamie at twitter.com/TheBabyGuyNYC
2. RSVP here
3. RT the #ThankfulBabyGuy hashtag when you see it
4. ACTIVELY participate in the discussion during the party!

Good Luck!