We have a Winner!

Congrats to Christine Thomas who has won the Valco Baby Universal Cup Holder!

Christine - Please email stuffmomloves@gmail.com to arrange to receive your prize! :)

HAPPY MONDAY, ALL!! :)

I Did It!!

So, I actually went through with my plan to conquer my Pinterest projects, and surprisingly it didn't turn out as bad as I would have thought!

First, my felt tree.  Okay, so, this was not the world's best project, but also not an epic fail.  I managed to make the tree, get it hung up, and the kids loved it - for about 15 minutes.  Then Bean decided that it was much more fun to peel off the Command strips I used to hang it up.  So in that fifteen minutes I managed to get one blurry cell phone pic of it...

Now the tree is rolled up and siting in the closet until I can get more sticky strips to rehang it...oh well.  (A quick little word of advice - if you decide to do this project, which in total cost me $8 and I have a TON of felt left over - make sure you have a really good pair of scissors.  My pair was not cutting it!  I ended up literally using a pair of nail scissors because that is all that I could get to cut through the felt!)

Project 2 - the ribbon tree tee for Bean was much more successful!  I purchased 8 different designs of ribbon.  I bought about 12 - 18 inches of each, which ended up being more than I needed, and actually a little more costly than I thought it would be...about $14.  Not too bad, but I could have headed to the gap and got her a super cute tee for the same price! Ha!  Anyway, I bought the ribbon, and a package of Stitch Witchery.

(Super cheap - especially with a coupon!) 

I had intended to just fuse the ribbon straight to the tee, but I hadn't found a perfect shirt while I was out, or in the baby's closet, so I decided to create the tree on a piece of the leftover felt.  I'm really glad I did this because it kept the shape of the tree much better than if I had tried to do it free-hand on the shirt.

It was extremely easy to use the stitch withchery and I was really happy with the quality of the bonding.  My only problem was that if you get any of the web on the iron, or the front of the ribbon, it becomes sticky and it's a little noticeable...

You can tell that I got a little on the knot of the bow...I tried to clean it with a little warm water, and it helped, but it's still there.

So anyway, I finally found an adorable red shirt at Babies R Us, complete with a sequin and tulle bow detail, and it was perfect!  I fused my felt tree to it quickly and easily, and here is the finished product.

I think I'm ready for Project Runway! Hahaha!

In all seriousness, for my first attempt, I'm pleased.  I think I'm going to pair this with a black tulle skirt, some sparkly tights, and a pair of holiday Baby Legs.  My little Bean is going to be styling, as usual ;)

So there you have, another Pinterest inspired project!  I'm pretty excited about it, not gonna lie.  What have you tried from my fave website???  Please share!  I'm always looking for a fun new craft!





The Dangerous of Pinterest...

I am OBSESSED!  I can't stop checking pinterest.  It's a sickness.  The side effects include thinking I'm richer than I am, thinking my house is bigger than it is, and thinking that I am craftier than I could ever be.  Today's problem has to do with the craftiness, or lack there of.

Thanks to all of the adorable and quote "easy" crafts that you can find on pinterest, I am currently preparing my list for JoAnn Fabrics.  My goal today is to make not one, but two, holiday related crafts for my little monkeys.

Project 1:

This adorable felt Christmas tree is going to be my attempt to keep the kids off of the real one.  Probably not going to work, but hey, if nothing else, it will look cute on our glass sliders...

Project 2:



Not only am I going to attempt to make this precious shirt for my little Bean, but I'm also going to attempt to make a few for the other special little ladies in my life.  We shall see how this goes.  I promise to share the results even if they are disastrous!

Oh boy, I have so much more I want to share, but Bean is currently attempting to redecorate our real tree - off to intervene!  Happy Thursday all! :)

Christmas Crazies Have Begun!!

Oh my goodness!  It is that time of year when parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. all begin going CRAZY trying to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones.  I am guilty of it too.  I want my kids' faces to light up when they see that Santa really listened all year long and (hopefully!) got them their most requested toys!

The problems begin when there are millions of people who all want the SAME toy for their kids!  I will never understand it, but for some reason, the toy companies just don't produce enough of the "it" toys, and thus begin full blown wars over the few products that can be found.

This year, it appears that this little beauty is the toy causing people to push, punch, or pepper spray each other in the Walmart parking lot.

My kids are both getting these for xmas.  I bought my son's green one in August, and then in October, decided that my daughter needed one too, and was easily able to score a pink one.  Now, however, their $99.99 price tag has rocketed to more than double the price by people on ebay trying to make money on a little kid's wish list.  (Ugh!)

So, anyway, I have found a few tricks that should help you get a leappad if you so desire...I was able to help some friends and family with these websites.

Wiialerts.com is the site that I have personally had the most success with. 

If you leave this page open on your computer, it will actually ding and open up the site in your browser when the product you are looking for is in stock.  I have noticed that Amazon gets these leappads listed at least 2-3 times a day, and this is where I scored 2 this week.  Keeping the website up is the most important part of this.  Amazon does get the supply, but it literally sells out in minutes.  Usually 1 -2 minutes.  (Craziness!)

Another site that is very similar, and also works well is zoolert.com. 

Zoolert, (as well as Wiialerts) will email you or text you when the item you are looking for comes back in stock.  My daughter is (thankfully!) too young for these Lalaloopsy Dolls (which I keep thinking are called Lalapaloosy - sounds better, right? lol), but apparently these are a hot item too.  Wiialerts and Zoolert have you covered here as well.



Personally, I would pick online shopping over the malls any time of the year, but especially during the holidays.  If you are having trouble finding a certain something, check these sites out. 

FYI - I have absolutely nothing to gain from sharing these sites with you, except that maybe it will make your holidays a little bit easier.  I thought that sharing them might help some of you out, so I went with it.  :)  Hope you find them useful!!  

Valco Baby Universal Cup Holder {Review & Giveaway}

I have many jobs, but my first (and most important!) is as a stay at home mom to two beautiful babies.  During the holiday season, these sweet little things are usually found being dragged around the mall with me as I search for the million gifts I need (& want!) to buy. 

There are two things that keep me sane in the mall, in December, with my children – my double stroller and my cup of coffee.  Unfortunately, my stroller and I are NOT besties.  (FYI - I do not have a Valco Baby Stroller, unfortunately!) One reason for our differences, is its lack of a cup holder.  I have purchased many add-on cup holders, including the one made “specifically” for my stroller, and I hate them all!  My stroller and I both usually end up covered in coffee.  

Not.  Cool.

I have had my eye on a new stroller for some time now, but when Valco Baby very generously offered to send me a Universal Cup Holder to test out, I decided to hold off.  ValcoBaby has saved the day!

I am in LOVE with my new cup holder.  It is the first attachment that I have tried that not only holds almost any size cup, but it actually keeps it from spilling, and/or falling out!  Check this out…

It is super easy to install this cup holder, but to be honest, it did take me two tries to get it as tight as I wanted it.  (Trust me, this was 100% user-related malfunction.  I didn’t really read the instructions…)  Once it was on, it didn’t move, except when I pressed the button that made it swivel until I felt it was level.

You can see just how tight I was able to get it.  It is actually smooshing the foam on the handlebars, which is fine with me!  I wanted it to be that tight, because I am always afraid that my drink is going to tilt and spill and burn my babies. 

I tested the holder with all different types of cups, and it held each one securely.  Sometimes I have to lift my stroller to get the kids over curbs, or around crowded stores, and I am confident that I can do this without having to worry about my cup holder swinging back and forth.

Here are a few of the cups that I tested.  Luckily the holder has prongs on the inside that adjust to the size of your cup.  I was able to get everything from a small kid’s cup from a restaurant to my huge reusable mug into the cup holder and I still had room.

Being a suburban mom, my stroller is pretty much stored in my trunk.  I have had so many cup holders that as soon as I fold my stroller, pop right off.  It is extremely frustrating to be in a parking lot in 20 degree weather, trying to attach a cup holder.  I am happy to report that when I folded it, and threw the stroller into my trunk, the Valco Baby Universal Cup Holder stayed put and stayed straight!!  I didn’t even have to adjust it when I took it out of the trunk.   (Note:  As you can see from the pic below, the cup holder does protrude a little from the side of the stroller.  I have been careful not to lay the stroller down on that side.)

So, I am happy to report, that with 20 days left to shop for Christmas, I am able to keep my kids strapped in, AND have my coffee while navigating the insanity of the mall!  THANK YOU Valco Baby for making my life sooo much easier this holiday season!!

Oh, and guess what?!  Because they are so incredibly generous, they sent me, not one, but two cup holders!  Instead of putting one on each side of my stroller, like I really want to, I’m going to give one away to one of my fabulous readers!  Here’s the deal…

This giveaway will begin immediately following the publishing of this post.  It will end Friday, December 9^th, 2011 at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced on Saturday, December 10^th, 2011.  To enter (up to 6 times) complete the following steps:

• ·        You must be a follower of this blog in order to enter.  If you are already a follower, leave a comment stating so.  If you are a new follower, leave a comment you sign up.  {1 entry}
• ·         Follow @caronjnp on Twitter for an additional entry.  Leave a comment below stating your Twitter name once you have done this.  {1 entry}
• ·         Like Valco Baby on Facebook.  Leave a comment here when you do.  {1 entry}
• ·         Follow @valcobaby on Twitter and you guessed it…leave a comment here. {1 entry}
• ·         Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this blog post, then leave a comment with a copy/paste of your tweet.  {1 entry}
• ·         Share this giveaway via Facebook with a link to this post and leave a comment here.  {1 entry}

Good luck and happy entering!

Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this review.  This post reflects MY opinions only.  Vaclo Baby provided the universal cup holder for review and for the giveaway.

Going Green & Saving Green

                                                                      

We all know that “going green” is the “chic” thing these days.  Most of us recycle, some of us up-cycle, and even fewer of us make huge lifestyle changes to help protect the earth, like installing solar panels in our homes, or switching to electric cars.  Realistically, going green can often be extremely costly, and although it sounds nice in theory, it isn’t always accessible.  The upfront cost of some of these projects is often way out of reach.

So, how about an option that not only helps you go green (without shelling out a ton of cash up front), but also saves you some green. 

Cloth diapering is making a comeback in a big way.  I know…it sounds pretty awful.  But trust me, it’s really not that bad.  I used disposable diapers with my son, and at the time all of my friends used them as well.  By the time that I was pregnant with my daughter, I had quite a few friends using cloth diapers and raving about them.  I was still super hesitant…it seemed like a diaper service to clean them would be very expensive in my area, and I really wasn’t sure how I felt about all that poop in my washing machine.  I was also scared that I would do it wrong.  It seemed kind of complicated!  I didn’t know if I needed inserts, or liners, or covers, or all-in-ones.  I didn’t know what a “wet bag” was, or where to get one.  There were so many brands, with so many types of diapers that I felt overwhelmed, so I stuck with disposables until my daughter was about 6 weeks old.

Out of nowhere, she came down with a terrible diaper rash.  The worst I had ever seen.  The poor kid cried uncontrollably every time that I changed her diaper.  I tried over the counter lotions, prescription lotions, I left her without a diaper whenever I could, I even skipped wipes as much as possible and used warm water on a wash cloth to clean her, but nothing helped.  I was desperate!  I had a gift card from my shower that I still hadn’t spent, so I ordered two cloth diaper covers and a dozen inserts, and within a week her bottom was all cleared up and she was happy as clam.  As soon as she was feeling better, I ordered enough cloth diaper supplies so that she would never have to wear a disposable again.

One of the best brands that I found was Bambino Mio.  The covers are soft and slim fitting, the inserts are pre-folded, and the brand sells everything that you need to cloth diaper, including nappy detergent, diaper pails, and birth to potty training sets that set you up for as long as you need diapers.

They also have super cute designs, and let’s be honest, that’s important too!

Check out these adorable covers.  

Cloth diapering is not for everyone, but the benefits are extremely appealing.  There are huge savings to consider, less diaper rash, reports that cloth diapers lead to earlier potty training, and of course, less waste filling up our landfills and harming our earth.

So, if cloth diapering is something you do, something you are considering, or something that you want to help a fellow mommy get started with, check out the new Bambino Mio supplies that ODIZ Baby Supply is carrying.

I originally published this blog post for ODIZ Baby Supply at http://odiz.biz/blog/2011/12/02/going-green-saving-green/ .

A Little Something for My Fellow Disney Fanatics

I apologize for another Pinterest post, but I saw this and just had to share it for all my Disney loving friends.  My only complaint is that they use the word "even" in the title...it should absolutely be omitted!!

Definitely some of my favorite movies and characters, but I must say, becoming a mom has made these all a little more real for me.  I cried when I watched The Lion King the other day.  A lot.  I do NOT remember it being so sad!

Before I start thinking about it and the water works start again, let me share some exciting bloggy news.  Valco Baby sent me an awesome package today, with a fun new product for me to review, and one for me to give away!  Woo hoo!  My semester is almost over, and as soon as I am done grading all of the papers piling up on my desk, I will have not one, but TWO giveaways coming to you!  With that being said, I am off to browse some online stores get some work done.  :)  Goodnight all!