Stuff Parents Need

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

Pillowcase Purse: Affordable, Green, Unique Gift Idea

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Are you currently trying to come up with ideas for gifts to give to others this holiday season? Have you been asked to give ideas for yourself and are drawing a blank? Well going green is HUGE for a second year in a row, so I would love to suggest that you think closely about gift ideas that support reducing, reusing and recyling in all its various forms. One way that has really caught on big is something called “up-cycling.” This is basically when you take an item and repurpose its parts to make something way cooler than what it originally was. Today I’m bringing you a very cool up-cycled product!

pillowcase purse from uniquerabbit Check out these pillowcase totes from Unique Rabbit! Kimberly, the owner of Unique Rabbit, has taken vintage pillowcases and turned them into fabulous bags that can serve a variety of purposes. These can hold your groceries, serve as a diaper bag, a toy holder, a library book holder (that’s what I use mine for every single week!) or any other number of purposes. And since it is made from vintage fabrics that are pretty much one-of-a-kind at this point, what you have will be totally unique. And isn’t it fun to have something that NOBODY else has? You know it is! The bag is also super soft, which simply makes it nice to carry! 🙂 Every time I take my bag out (which is every week!) someone comments on how very cool it is.

I can’t say enough about what a fantastic gift idea this is, especially if you are on a tight budget. Including shipping, this bag will set you back $10.50. That’s $10.50 for a handmade, one-of-a-kind, super cute, super green, super functional gift. Kimberly only has a few of these in stock, so jump on them now before they are gone!

Unique Rabbit is one of the very first stores that I ever featured on my blog. For that reason, and because Kimberly makes wonderful products, this is a store that I have so much love for in my heart! Please take a moment to look around her shop and see if anything catches your eye. Oh, and if you aren’t using paperless towels at this point in your kitchen, please do yourself a favor and purchase some right now. Her prices can’t be beat!

Win it!: Would you like to win an up-cycled tote? Of course you would! Here’s your chance! The contest will run until November 7th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is drawn Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about a time you re-purposed something. Sewing doesn’t have to be involved! For example: I recently re-purposed a beautiful short stem vase that hadn’t been used in years into a pencil and pen holder on my desk!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Add Unique Rabbit to your Etsy favorites!
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (totally easy and no big deal to sign up if you haven’t before! Just check out my sidebar).

Be sure to check out the other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage. My giveaways typically have good odds!

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

First Birthday Gift Idea: Personalized Wooden Blocks

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Right around a child’s first birthday, interest in blocks seems to skyrocket (at least Darah’s has). I’ve been on the lookout for some really cool wooden blocks for her. I actually found some on Etsy, but these aren’t any ordinary blocks. They are custom made with adorable color-schemes. I love them in a major way!

Check out Designed by Lemony, which is owned by a wonderful mom named Emily! She describes her blocks as follows, “I put coordinating papers and letters on 30 solid wood 1” square blocks. After all the sides are covered, I seal the paper onto the blocks with a non-toxic glossy sealant. Each block has two letters on it, so in total there are 60 letters, which includes the entire alphabet twice. I can PERSONALIZE the canister by adding up to 8 block letters. Please just let me know the name when you order so I can finish it quickly before sending it.”

Emily is always seeking to perfect her products. After getting some feedback about the finish of her blocks being a bit tacky (literally tacky, not unfashionable!) she has changed her formula, and now the blocks are being made with a matte finish. I did notice that our blocks stuck together a little bit after being in the (seriously hot) attic for a few weeks. The canister she sent us has the matte finish, and it looks absolutely perfect.

Now, these blocks are already super-cute with their different patterns and designs, but Designed by Lemony can take it one step further for you. Emily can make your blocks with special photos on them, as well. Think about how great it would be to have pictures of your family members and your baby on the blocks. While your little one is learning about stacking, knocking things down, and the alphabet, you can also work on the names of your loved ones. Or you can just put pictures of your baby from his/her first year or two of life on the blocks for a beautiful keepsake. Just TRY to find something this special at Target!

Emily is inspired by custom orders, so if you have any special ideas or any particular colors that you’d like to see, just contact her…she can make it happen!

Buy it!: The wooden block set is $35 plus $7 shipping, and that includes any customization that you’d like to do to it (including adding pictures!). It comes with 30 blocks and one super cute and coordinating canister (which can have the child’s name on the outside of it). Shipping is free for your second item, by the way!

Win it!: Today just might be your lucky day! One of you is going to win a CUSTOM set of blocks for the child in your life!!! The contest will run until August 12th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is drawn. Limit one entrant per household, please. Open to residents of the United States.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me the wooden block set you like the best of the ones available!

Additional entries:
1. Add Designed by Lemony to your Etsy favorites.
2. “Like” Designed by Lemony on Facebook
3. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via email, RSS or Google Friend Connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe multiple ways)
4. If you are a blogger (must have written a post in the last 3 months) add my button to your blog roll and send me a link so that I can see it
5. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
6. “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook
7. Tweet about this giveaway (one tweet/day allowed)
8. Make a purchase on Designed by Lemony (10 extra entries!)

Be sure to check out all my other current giveaways (listed on the sidebar of my main page).

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

YoungBloods Diapers Review

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Cloth diapers are becoming more and more popular at my house, folks. Tim and I have been a bit at odds with each other on cloth diapers, but as soon as I realized that he didn’t mind, and in fact, even enjoyed using the all in one (AIO) diapers, I focused my efforts there, and we haven’t really looked back. I still use the fitted and pocket diapers we have, but I have tried to make sure that we have a decent supply of AIO diapers on hand so that Tim can just grab them and go. He wants diapers that are just as easy to use as disposables, and that’s pretty much AIO diapers, in a nut shell.

youngbloods diaper Today I want you to meet Jenny, a fabulous work at home mom from Savannah. She has a degree in fibers and textile design, and she has put that degree to work in an effort to come up with beautiful and functional cloth diapers through her Etsy shop, Young Blood. She has been putting her diaper designs to the test with her own baby, and over the past 1 1/2 years, has worked hard to create the perfect AIO diaper.

Jenny sells her AIO diapers for $18.00 (the price of a 1 week supply of Huggies Pure and Natural diapers!) and she offers them in very cool patterns. My favorites include the newborn diaper (with a cut out for the umbilical cord!) in the blue hearts pattern and the small blue cloth diaper that has the gorgeous blue fabric on the inside (guess I’m in a “blue” mood today!). Give Young Blood diapers a try if you are in the market for something new!

youngbloods diaper If you are curious about trying out cloth, or if you are already a convert and would love to add a new diaper from a great small business, now is your chance! Jenny is offering one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader an AIO cloth diaper! The winner will receive their choice of size (newborn, medium or large) in this fabulous monkey print. I love it! The contest will run until June 17th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States.

Edit: This giveaway is CLOSED

Mandatory Entry: Tell me the size diaper you want if you win AND one other diaper that you really like in the shop!

Additional Entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS, email or Google friend connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe more than one way)
2. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (leave your Twitter ID)
3. “Like” Young Blood on Facebook
4. Tweet about this giveaway

Affordable Art: Professional Photography Prints (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Edit: This giveaway is CLOSED….but the coupon for 15% off any purchase has been extended until June 19th! If you didn’t win but still want a print, now’s the time to order!

Even though I have been able to spruce up my desk space at home and work with the most precious picture frames (from Round the Bend and Quilly Nilly!), the walls at my house are still mostly bare. I’m actually not a big fan of putting family pictures on the wall (with the exception of the HUGE collage of pictures of my baby hanging in my dining room). I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, it just doesn’t suit me for some reason. I’d rather have art of some sort to admire. But I have trouble finding paintings that aren’t either really bad, really cheesy, or REALLY expensive. One medium that provides beautiful images at affordable prices is photography. Too bad I stink with a camera. Fortunately, there are folks out there who are quite handy with a camera lens, and today I’m going to introduce you to one.

I’m excited to be featuring a photographer from my hometown of Enterprise, Alabama! Blogosphere, meet Erin Johnson! Erin is a graphic designer by trade, but her heart belongs to photography. She is highly skilled, having the ability to photograph landscapes, animals, flowers, architecture AND people! Many photographers will specialize in just one area, but Erin does them all!

Erin sent me a beautiful picture of a pink zinnia to help breathe new life into my home. It currently is hung in my bedroom, at the wall opposite my bed. I’m really enjoying having the very first thing I see every morning be a beautiful image from nature. It lifts my spirits!

Erin has so many beautiful photos on her site, and I’m sure that there’s at least one that would look great on your walls at home or work. A few of my personal favorites include The Old Mill, Sunset Fields and the Ladybug. Erin can print these photographs in almost any size, so contact her if you see a print you like but you want a size other than the one offered! Her 8 x 10 photographs are only $18.00, which makes this art not only lovely, but also affordable. And that makes it a winner! During the contest, Erin is offering you 15% off any purchase. Just include the code, “Stuff” in your notes to seller, and she’ll refund your discount through paypal!

Speaking of being a winner, here’s your chance to win! Erin is offering up one 8 x 10 photo from her collection to a lucky Stuff Parents Need reader. Fantastic! The contest will run until Saturday, June 12th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me the print you want to win and where you would hang it. Choose wisely, as you will get what you select in your entry!

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS, email or Google friend connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe more than one way)
2. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (leave your Twitter ID)
3. Follow Erin Johnson on Twitter (leave your Twitter ID)
4. Add Erin Johnson Photography to your Etsy favorites
5. Make a suggestion to Erin for something she should photograph
6. “Like” Erin Johnson Photography on Facebook
Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Who Knew Going Green Could Be So Lovely? (Reusable Bag GIVEAWAY!)

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EDIT: Giveaway CLOSED!

I consider myself to be an eco-friendly gal. I’ve greened my cleaning products, many of my personal care items, and even some of the food choices I make. But there’s one area where I have failed. I bring my lunch to work almost every single day. While bringing my lunch is very wallet-friendly and arguably good for the environment since I’m not motoring all over town to find some fast food, I make a crucial error when it comes to how I transport the food.

Almost every single day, I use plastic sandwich bags. And I don’t wash them and re-use them. I just throw them away. Frankly, I didn’t give that habit much thought at all until recently. But I realize now that I’m being totally inconsistent by breaking out my reusable totes for every grocery trip, where I proceed to buy more plastic bags to use and throw away.

There is another option, I am pleased to say. Did you know that reusable snack and sandwich bags are available? And even better, they are really cute! Bleu Roo is a shop that has the cutest reusable snack bags that you’ve ever seen!

Amanda is the brains behind Bleu Roo, where she combines a love of the environment with her crafty skills and her embroidery techniques! She sent me a reusable snack bag to try out, and I’ve been toting it with me to work every day since. The outside is a cotton and the inside is a waterproof and stain resistant nylon. The bag secures with velcro. I have already washed the bag after using it for my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it held up beautifully in the wash. It also line-dried very quickly. The bags are large at 8×8, so they can hold enough food for kids and adults, alike. Overall, I found these snack bags to be excellent, and I only wish I had tried them out sooner!

Bleu Roo offers so many beautiful items. I’ve put the hand embroidered snack bag on my wish list for Mother’s Day, birthday or Christmas, and I also love the personalized totes that Amanda offers.

Buy It!: If you use ziploc bags for your own lunches or for your kids lunches, consider making the switch to reusable bags. They are so much more attractive than plastic, and they will pay for themselves in just a few months. Bleu Roo has a beautiful selection with prices starting at just $5.50!

Win It!: Bleu Roo is spreading the love by offering one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader one plain snack bag AND one embroidered snack bag of your choice so that you can go green in style! The contest will run until Sunday, May 9th at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Open to residents of the United States. Be sure to leave your email address in your comments or have it in your profile or else I can’t contact you to tell you that you won!

How to Enter:

Mandatory entry: Tell me the embroidered snack bag you want if you win (choose wisely, as this will be your bag if your number is drawn!)

Additional entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email (one extra entry total, even if you subscribe both ways)
2. Follow me through Google connect
3. Put my button on your blog (leave blog url)
4. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (leave your TwitterID)
5. Subscriber to the Sampler Village Etsy Team blog (Bleu Roo is a member)
6. Subscriber to the Bleu Roo blog
7. Enter any other currently open giveaway on my site (one extra entry per giveaway that you enter)

current giveaways: Hen and Chicks cloth diaper (ends 4/30), Sugar Free Allstars children’s cd (ends 5/4), MAM pacifiers (ends 05/07)
Disclosure: I received a product sample for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Washable Nursing Pads for Evening Use

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Breastfeeding for me has been a very satisfying experience, though it has certainly had its share of challenges (which is another post altogether). For those of you out there who are just getting started, I promise that things really will get better in time! I can’t promise that it will become the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but it will get better.

Several months ago I wrote some initial thoughts about disposable nursing pads. My opinion still holds that if you are going to use disposables, the Lansinoh pads are the best ones on the market. There will come a time, though, when you really don’t need to wear nursing pads very much during the day. This was such a, “Hallelujah!” experience for me when it happened. I seemed to need nursing pads during the day for longer than the average nursing mama (I was still using them daily until Darah was about 4 1/2 months old). Now I really only need them at night. Since things have calmed down a bit and I don’t need to use them during the day, I decided to give washable nursing pads a try, and I have to say, they are working really well for me!

washable nusing pads from Pannaz Let me introduce you to Brandi, and her super fun Etsy shop, Pannaz. The nursing pads at Pannaz caught my eye for a few reasons. 1. I loved the blue damask pattern that was offered (it is SO me!). 2. The price for a set just rocked my socks off ($2.00!?! Wow!). 3. They are made with 4 layers of flannel, and as a result are really soft. After spending months using something with a plastic backing, this sounded heavenly.

Brandi sent me a set of nursing pads to try out, and I have really enjoyed using them. Adding them to my laundry pile is no big deal, at all. They have been washed many times at this point, and all the stitching is still in place, and the fabric gets softer after each wash. I don’t have experience using this type of nursing pad at the beginning stages of breastfeeding, and I can imagine that they aren’t quite as absorbent as the Lansinoh pads. They are also a bit thicker, so I could see where wearing them out in public could be difficult, depending on the type of shirt you are wearing. But for the second half of the breastfeeding experience, I think these are absolutely perfect. I would recommend that you get at least 4 pair of nursing pads so that you have enough to get you through until you do laundry again (assuming that you do laundry every few days).

Brandi’s shop has more than just nursing pads, and I wanted to highlight just a few of my personal favs that she sells. Check out her reusable bags, her large blankets for babies and toddlers (priced so beautifully at $9!) and her soft-soled shoes (watch out for a review of these in the coming weeks). I am really impressed with the products offered on this site. Brandi gets her inspiration from her own kids as well as her love for bags and shoes. It is awesome when someone has the talent to see something she loves and then make it herself! Brandi says, “I truly enjoy the whole process of the creation…from designing the item to picking the fabrics for it to creating a finished product.” You really can see the love she puts into her products, which is something you just don’t find with mass-produced merchandise.

Buy It! I see these as one of those things that new moms have no idea that they need, but that they will thank you for if you get it for them! I’m making a note to buy some of these to include in baby shower gifts. At $2 each, you really can’t go wrong! Buy a few sets for yourself or an expecting mom you know today!
pannaz, who offers washable nursing pads
Win It! Brandi wants to get you off to a great start with breastfeeding, or help you go green if you are currently breastfeeding. She is offering one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader 2 sets of reusable nursing pads. Woo hoo! The contest will run until Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Open to residents of the United States.

How To Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Tell me the two patterns you would choose for your nursing pads (you can also choose 2 sets in the same pattern). You will win what you choose, so be sure and pick out your favorite pattern!

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email (only 1 extra entry total, even if you subscribe both ways)
2. Follow me through Google connect
3. Put my button on your blog and leave a url where I can find it
4. Become a fan of Pannaz on Facebook
5. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (leave your Twitter ID)
6. Enter any other currently open giveaway on my site (one extra entry per giveaway that you enter)

Disclosure: I received product samples in order to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.