Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Shopping for Fall Basics on a Budget: My CookiesKids.com Experience

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When it comes to obtaining clothes for my children, I am lucky beyond measure. Darah is granddaughter #4 on one side of the family and Layah is granddaughter #7. Additionally, one of my sisters-in-law has a knack for finding great deals on really beautiful children’s clothing online, and we inherit those clothes after her kids have worn them. It is really awesome. But even with all that access to great (and FREE!) clothes, I still find that I need to supplement some things, especially as Darah gets older and the clothes heading her way have been worn for longer periods of time and might need to be replaced. A few weeks ago I realized that I was having some trouble getting Darah fully dressed in the mornings after the weather got a bit cooler. I made a list of the articles of clothing I kept reaching for but that weren’t there in her closet. And I was surprised by how many basics were needed! I was missing the following:

  • black long-sleeve shirt
  • white long-sleeve shirt
  • jeans
  • basic skirt
  • footed tights in a basic color (white, black, red)
  • black pants

I’m on a tight budget (who isn’t, these days?) so I was rather nervous when I saw how many things I needed to get. I wasn’t really sure how to get all of these items without spending more money than I really could afford to. And as many of you can understand, its not a fun feeling when you are struggling to figure out how to meet a need for your child. I turned to CookiesKids.com to try to find these basics at a good price. I had been hearing a lot of buzz from other bloggers about the huge inventory and the unbelievable prices, so I decided to go for it. I did my shopping at 4 in the morning (ah, the beauty of the internet!) so that I could shop in peace and quiet and not have to even put on any makeup! Darah is interested in clothes I bring home for her, but at 3 years old, she still has precious little patience for actually browsing in a store. If you’d like to follow along with my shopping experience, check out my Google+ album here.

One of the tricky things about shopping at CookiesKids.com is the fact that they carry a large assortment of brands. And that means that fit can vary quite a bit. I’m impressed that CookiesKids.com is working hard on a solution with a program called Alva Kids. You can find the icon by the size option. Once you register with this free and easy program and provide it with some basic information about your child’s measurements, you can better know how each brand on the site is going to fit your child. That’s very cool and can save a great deal of headache! Since I was shopping VERY early in the morning, and since I have a child who is very petite, I skipped this size, knowing that there was no possibility of a 3T in any brand being too small for her. PEOPLE, LEARN FROM MY EXAMPLE. I should have taken a few minutes to do this, because I ordered a few long-sleeve shirts, all from one particular brand, and they were all too small. I was really shocked by this, and then annoyed at myself because I could have prevented the problem.

CookiesKids.com did have a very impressive variety of clothing options and I found myself going down a few rabbit holes as I spotted things not on my list that were so pretty. I mean, how adorable is this sweater dress?! And just $9.99!

I actually stumbled upon some gray cords and some gray leggings, neither one of which were on my list but both of which I decided to purchase as staples for this year. I’m so glad I did! But perhaps my most awesome find was a set that included black pants (which was on my list) and also included a really cute black and gray fashion top, and the price was amazing…just $6.99!

This shirt was SOOOOO soft. And it also has a little bit of tulle at the bottom to make it sassy, which Darah especially loves. In fact, when it was time to model a different outfit, she asked if she could keep the top on just a little bit longer. I happily complied with her request, and it gave me an opportunity to see how her new gray cords would work with the top. They looked great! They are also a better option than jeans for her, as she finds jeans to be stiff and doesn’t really like wearing them. She’d actually wear dresses all year if she could, but at some point, pants are a must. So this outfit is a good compromise for her because she feels like she is wearing a dress, just with pants underneath!

Then we moved on to a white top (which will get near-constant use this season, I predict) and those gray leggings, which were from Esprit and still only cost $6.99. They are the cutest things ever!

I think #CookiesKids is a really good online shopping option for parents who need to stretch their dollars as far as possible but who still want to find kids fashion that is on-trend. Again, I want to stress the importance of doing a little bit of prep work by registering for Alva Kids so that you can buy with confidence and you know that everything you order is going to fit as it should!

Even if you don’t have to worry to much about the latest kids style because your child is in a uniform at school, Cookies Kids is still a great place to find good deals on those school uniforms. Basically, they’ve got something for everyone! They are also celebrating their 40th year of business, so you know they are doing something right!

And if you happen to live in the NYC area, Cookies Kids has 7 stores there. For the rest of us, shopping with this store is a possibility 24/7 by going online. You can also stay up to date on the latest happenings (and the SALES!) by following Cookies Kids on Facebook and Twitter. You can also use the code stuffparentsneed to save 10% on your order from now through 12/14/2012! Woo hoo!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Maternity Week: Getting a Special Shirt for the Older Sibling(s) (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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When we were getting ready to tell my mother-in-law, who visited us in September, that we were expecting, our plan was to have Darah simply come out of her room in a “big sister” shirt. We thought that would be really cute and fun, and totally not hard to do.

So off I went to the store to get one of those shirts. Only….they are IMPOSSIBLE to find in a brick and mortar store. I made the erroneous assumption that they would be a breeze to find. WRONG!!! While someone may have one time or another been lucky and found one in a store, I couldn’t to save my life. Unfortunately, my MIL was due to arrive the next day, so I couldn’t order anything online. Let that be a lesson to all of you who might be looking for “big sister” or “big brother” shirts in the future…order online, and at least a week before you need them!

I am still going to get to use my idea for Darah’s big reveal at her school. Today she’ll be wearing this precious shirt to school as a way to tell her teachers that she is going to be a big sister! Isn’t it cute? I love the design, and Darah LOVES to wear things that have her name on them (it’s a word that she can recognize by sight). This shirt is from a company that I HIGHLY recommend called Pipsqueak Boutique. This company specializes in stylish and personalized birthday gifts for babies and toddlers. Here you will find sibling shirts (look out for a brand new collection of these that will be released in the next few weeks!). They also have an amazing collection of first birthday shirts for your little one’s very first celebration! I know I’ll be coming back here to take a peak when it is time for this tiny one’s first birthday!

The quality of Darah’s big sister shirt from Pipsqueak Boutique is excellent. It is soft and has a fitted look to it. If your child runs a bit large, I would consider sizing up with these shirts, as they do have a slimmer cut to them. We are very pleased with the product, and I would feel confident about shopping with them again. And I love the variety of gifts they offer. I’ve definitely got my eye on their personalized swaddling blankets. Now if only we can decide on boy and girl names! I forgot how hard picking out names is! 🙂

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a personalized shirt for a boy or a girl in your choice of design from Pipsqueak Boutique! Woo hoo!

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Hanes Toddler Underwear Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Darah has fully owned her underwear collection. She loves the ritual of picking out her new underwear from her basket. I’ve noticed that she likes having a variety of solids and prints, and she really does choose whatever suits her mood.

She spends most of the mornings that we are at home in just a top and her undies. She seems to prefer this most casual attire, and I don’t mind. It’s warm inside the house, and if she’s more comfortable that way, then that’s fine with me!

We just received some new underwear from Hanes, and I’m excited to tell you about them. These are the Hanes Tagless Toddler Girls 100% Cotton Briefs. They come in a package of 6 for $6.50, which is an excellent buy! And as you read in their name, they are TAGLESS!!! This is a very nice feature for comfort. The only drawback is that it does make learning how to put on your underwear a little bit trickier. All the tag information is on the underwear, but because it isn’t on a tag, it’s a little bit harder for a young one to find. You’ll just have to determine if it is more important to have an easily identified tag or to have a toddler who doesn’t complain of something scratching him/her! I really think what you need just depends on your child.

One other fantastic feature of this toddler underwear is that it is guaranteed not to ride up! No wedgies for your little one! I have definitely found this to be true for Darah, and that’s one reason I’d give this underwear a big endorsement.

If you have a toddler boy, Hanes also has a line of tagless underwear for boys, too!

The sizing for the underwear is 2/3T or 4T. I was very concerned that a 2/3T would be enormous on Darah, but I haven’t found that to be the case. They are a little bit big, but we’ve had no problems with them drooping or falling off. Basically, she just has a bit of room to grow, which is nice for the budget!

I would definitely recommend Hanes as a great resource for toddler underwear at affordable prices! Here’s a list of retailers that carry Hanes!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win your choice of toddler underwear for girls or boys! The contest will run until July 20th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me another product in the infant and toddler line that you’d like to have for your child (choose from underwear, socks, t-shirts and sweats).

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Hanes on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (found on sidebar)

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.